


Homo Janai

by Torutaka10969



Category: ONE OK ROCK
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2019-12-07 14:05:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 104,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18235883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Torutaka10969/pseuds/Torutaka10969
Summary: Set during the very early years of One OK Rock. Toru tries stalking a certain vocalist, only to realise in horror that it's the same man he went on a date with years earlier. But that's ok, because Toru isn't even gay.





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did I do before I wrote Toruka fan fics? Apparently the answer is "not much" because here I am again. I noticed it was weird that both my other Toruka stories started as sex buddies ~~(looks at own relationship history: no idea why I write like that......)~~ ANYWAY. Here's a nice, wholesome way of them getting together that does not involve Toru taking advantage of Taka for sex. Also full disclosure: my knowledge of Toyko geography is very limited, I have no idea what Takeru's like, and all I know about Alex is he's a perv who likes aliens. Everything is factually inaccurate, the timeline sucks, what else is new in my writing? Also this may or may not be inspired by a certain interview from more than a decade ago. Part of me wants to write "homo janai" instead of "I'm not gay", but I try to keep them consistently talking in English, otherwise it'd be weird.

Taka and Takeru were strolling around the streets of Shibuya when they ran into one of Takeru's friends. Taka didn't recognise him and just smiled politely while the two men caught up. Taka figured the guy's name was Alex and he was waiting to meet a friend. Alex's friend eventually showed up and introduced himself. Taka didn't even catch his name, he was distracted by the friend's good looks. He towered over Taka, and had a deep voice that made Taka's insides melt. 

The two men left before Taka even caught on to their conversation and continued walking along with Takeru. 

“Who was that?” Taka asked as soon as they were out of earshot. 

“My friend Alex. We work at the same restaurant” Takeru responded as he continued walking, “or did you mean Alex's hot friend?”

Taka felt himself blushing, “yea, who's the friend?”

“I don't know, I can ask Alex if you want” Takeru laughed before they entered a coffee shop.   
Taka ordered a hot chocolate and sat down at a table with Takeru. Takeru ordered a black coffee and Taka made fun of him for liking such bitter tastes. 

The coffee shop was relatively quiet, most people were in school at this time. Takeru had a spare period, and Taka had just recently dropped out of school. They drank their drinks as Takeru played with his phone. 

“Maybe we should get dinner with Alex and his hot friend…” Takeru laughed as he saw Taka blush, “you like him, don't you?” 

“He's hot, but, I don't actually know him. Kinda hard to like someone you don't know” Taka admitted as he drank his hot chocolate. 

“I'll ask Alex next time we have a shift together” Takeru answered as he looked at Taka. Takeru always liked Taka, but never knew he had any feelings towards men. Taka knew Takeru was gay, but never really made any 'same here' reactions. Takeru sighed as he looked at his watch.   
“I have to get back to school, I'll keep you updated on mission hot blonde” Takeru laughed before leaving Taka on his own.

 

Takeru arrived for his shift at the restaurant a few days later and saw Alex already in the kitchen doing dishes. 

“Why is there such a large pile of dishes if this place is dead?” Takeru groaned as he looked at the stack of dishes beside Alex. 

“Well it's not going to get any shorter if you just yell at me” Alex responded before spraying Takeru with water. 

“Stop, we're not going to get anything done at this rate” Takeru laughed before flicking Alex with dish water, “anyway. I have a favour to ask of you”

“A favour? Not sure I like where this is going. I'm not taking your Saturday night shift” Alex responded before even hearing what it was.

“No, not work related. When we ran into each other the other day, your friend, what was his name?” Takeru asked as he scrubbed dishes. 

“Ah, Toru. What about him? You got a crush on him?” Alex laughed as Takeru stared at him, “Everyone knows you like guys, Takeru. It's kinda obvious”

“no, not for me. My friend likes him. Is Toru into guys though?” Takeru asked. 

“No idea, probably” Alex laughed before continuing, “I'll ask him and get back you”

 

Alex arrived at school the next day and made a beeline for Toru's locker with a coffee. 

“Why are you bringing me coffee?” Toru asked suspiciously before sniffing it, “is it poisonous?” 

“No my precious Toru, I'm just feeling in a good mood today. The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, and I get to see my good friend Toru” Alex responded. 

“Ah, you saw a UFO last night, didn't you?” Toru laughed as he drank the coffee. 

“Probably. However, I have a question for you” Alex started as Toru eyed him suspiciously, “you're gay, right?” 

Toru spat out his coffee at that, “no, why would you even ask that?” 

Alex sighed, “you said that guy the other day was cute, right?” 

“Yea, but I was drunk" Toru admitted, "also  _I'm not gay_ ”

“But you admit when you're sober, you think he's cute?” Alex laughed as Toru sighed. 

“Well he is cute. That's objective. It doesn't mean I wanna have sex with him” Toru responded. 

“I didn't say anything about sex. I think you did, though” Alex snickered as Toru gave him a death glare. “Anyway, he wants to get to know you”

Toru sighed again as he looked at Alex, “I'll meet up with him” 

“Excellent. I'll give you the details of your date later” Alex then ran off before Toru could object to the word ‘date’.

Toru just stood against his locker with his coffee before going off to class.

 

Takeru was sat around Taka's apartment as Taka tried on what felt like a million clothing options. 

“ok, I think I like this shirt” Taka came out of his room and Takeru was sat on the couch. “Where are we meeting?” 

“You're meeting at the theatre at 6, then you're going for dinner afterwards, then who knows after that” Takeru winked as Taka shoved him playfully. 

“I don't have sex on first dates” Taka laughed as he flipped through the magazines on his coffee table. 

“You sure about that?” Takeru laughed as he looked over at Taka. 

“Shut up” Taka laughed as he thought about his previous dates. He had had sex on all his other first dates, but those were all with women. Taka had never been on a date with a man before. He wasn't even sure if he liked guys, but he definitely liked this guy.

Taka arrived at the theatre 5 minutes early and was surprised to see Toru already there. 

“I was worried the tickets would sell out and got us tickets early” Toru said as he greeted Taka. 

Taka could feel his insides melting at his voice again and his words barely even registered. 

“Taka. I'm Taka, by the way” Taka stumbled over his words. 

Toru laughed, “I'm Toru. I think I already introduced myself the other day though” 

“Oh, I couldn't remember. Wanna get popcorn?” Taka asked awkwardly. 

Toru nodded as he followed Taka to the popcorn line up. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous, he wasn't even sure if he was gay. They got seats at the back of the theatre and got settled in time for the adverts to start.

“So what did you think of the movie?” Taka asked as him and Toru got sat down at the restaurant. It was a small sushi restaurant right beside the theatre. Most of the other patrons were also couples who probably just left the theatre. 

“It was alright, I'm not really a movie person” Toru admitted. 

Taka looked confused, he was under the impression the movie was Toru's idea. “So what do you like?”

“I like music, and dancing” Toru responded. 

“What kind of music?” Taka asked nervously, praying Toru wasn't going to mention either his parents or previous band. 

“Western music mostly. Good Charlotte, Avril Lavigne, The Used, that kind of thing” Toru responded as Taka tried not to show how relieved he was. 

“Interesting, and you dance?” Taka asked. 

“Yea, I used to be in a dance group” Toru admitted. 

“What kind of dance?” Taka asked. He had heard people like talking about themselves, and hoped if he could get Toru talking he may not ask Taka anything. 

“Hip hop” Toru responded as Taka laughed, “hey don't laugh. What's your skill?” 

Taka thought long and hard about that, he couldn't think of anything other than singing. But at the same time, he didn't want to get into anything about his past or his parents. He was interrupted by their waiter bringing them food and decided to change topics. 

“This dance group, were you guys any good?” Taka asked, hoping to get Toru back on topic. 

“I guess, yea. I wasn't as good as the other members though. Anyway, why am I the one being interrogated? Which school do you go to?”

“Keio” Taka responded quickly, before he could even think about whether or not he was going to lie about it. 

“Ah, Keio… you must be pretty smart then? What's your favourite subject?” Toru asked as he leaned back in his chair.

“Gym” Taka answered as he saw Toru laugh. “Why's that so funny?”

“No reason, I was expecting you to say… classic English literature or something” they both laughed before Toru continued, “I'm just glad it's a subject I can actually talk about” 

They continued joking and laughing as they ate sushi before leaving the restaurant. 

“Do you live far?” Toru asked as he exited the restaurant with Taka.

“No, it's about 10 minutes away” Taka responded as they stood outside the restaurant awkwardly. 

“Which way?” Toru asked. 

Taka pointed to the left before describing where his apartment is. Toru said that was near his so they began walking through Tokyo together. They walked side by side and Taka felt his heart skip beats whenever their hands brushed. He debated taking Toru's hand into his own but was too nervous to do so. 

“Ah, shit. I forgot to cross the street before reaching my apartment” Taka laughed as he realised they were directly across the street from his apartment. 

“We just passed a crosswalk a few minutes ago, let's just go back” Toru laughed as he looked across the street.

“No, we'll just make a…” Taka grabbed Toru's hand and dragged him across the street through a lull in traffic.

Taka and Toru made it to the other side in one piece and were laughing from the adrenaline rush of running through traffic. They were standing right in front of each other and Taka was still holding onto Toru's hand. Taka looked down at their hands, then up at Toru. He put his opposite hand on Toru's waist and reached up to kiss Toru. 

Toru instinctively also reached down to return the kiss, they kissed for a few minutes as Toru felt a bulge in his pants, and it freaked him out. He pulled away from the kiss and took a step back from Taka. 

“I'm sorry Taka, I'm not gay” Toru blurted out. He didn't want to look at Taka's sad face and walked away, cursing himself for agreeing to this. 

Taka was dumbstruck as he leaned against the entrance to his apartment and sighed. He knew this was too good to be true. He decided to just text Takeru, “he's straight. Bring me vodka” before heading into the apartment and cried as he waited for Takeru to show up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bad romance novel I'm so sorry, isn't this how normal people have first dates though?


	2. Operation Poach Vocalist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toru sets his eyes on a vocalist for his band, only to discover said vocalist already hates him. Toru can't seem to figure out why, only to make a horrible realisation at a gay club.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that Tomo wasn't in the band at the beginning, but oh well. If I had to address every inaccuracy, I'd reach the character limit.

2 years later...

Taka had just finished his first live performance with his band, Chivalry of Music. The other members had all left him for the night and he was about to leave when he was stopped by his friend Yuri who owned the venue.

“Hey, Taka. Someone wants to meet you” he informed Taka before dragging him to a couch in a quiet part of the bar. Taka was left on his own as he looked around and saw someone he knew from his past. 

“Hey, Taka right?” The man said in a deep voice that Taka had successfully managed to forget.   
“What do you want?” Taka asked through gritted teeth as he looked at the tall man in front of him. 

“You're a good singer” the man smiled before continuing, “you should join my band, we need a vocalist”

Taka just stared at him, unsure whether or not the man recognised him. “I'm in a band, as you could clearly see 5 minutes ago” Taka sighed as he got ready to leave. 

“You looked miserable up there” the man noted as he grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down a few words. 

“I'm not joining your stupid band” Taka spat back as the man handed him the piece of paper. Taka read it for a few seconds before sighing, “You're a fucking asshole, Toru. I'm not meeting you anywhere at one in the fucking morning” Taka shouted before leaving the venue. 

Toru watched the short, angry man walk out of the room in shock. He wasn't sure what he did wrong, but vowed to come back next time the band performed.

* * *

 

Taka showed up to Takeru's house immediately after with a large bottle of vodka and let himself in. 

Takeru was still awake and watched Taka sit down on the couch, crying as he drank vodka straight from the bottle. “Shouldn't you be drinking champagne after your first live?”

“I saw Toru” Taka said sadly before taking another swig of vodka. “I don't think he remembered me, he wanted me to join his stupid band”

Takeru just looked at the man on his couch and got him a glass and a can of coke, “drinking vodka straight out of the bottle is kinda pathetic, at least mix it with coke…” 

Taka nodded as he filled the glass with half vodka and half coke and began drinking it. 

“That's not exactly the ratio I was thinking of, but, I suppose it works” Takeru laughed as he got up again to get Taka a glass of water.

* * *

“So Toru, how did the vocalist scouting go last night?” Ryota asked as Toru showed up to rehearsal the next night. 

“Working on it, do you three wanna come see him perform tomorrow night?” Toru asked as he looked over at his two band mates. 

“Can't do tomorrow” Alex answered, “all on you Ryota and Tomo” 

“I can't do tomorrow either” Ryota responded. 

“I'm going to dinner with my friend” Tomo answered as well. 

“Fine, I'll go on my own again” Toru huffed before beginning the rehearsal.

* * *

Toru showed up early the next night and got a seat right in front of the stage. When the performance began, he stared at Taka the entire time. He couldn't tell if Taka was purposely trying to avoid his eye contact or if he was just nervous. The show ended and he saw Taka make a beeline for backstage. Toru decided to head to the band exit to confront Taka before he could leave. 

Toru waited outside for a while before he saw the vocalist walk through the door. They made eye contact and Taka immediately tried to turn around but discovered the door was locked to the outside. 

“I'm not joining your stupid band, you asshole” Taka announced as he tried to walk away from the man following him. 

“What did I do that makes you think I'm an asshole?” Toru asked, he really didn't understand why Taka hated him so much. 

“You really don't know?” Taka turned around and felt himself tear up. He had moved on from their date, but seeing Toru right in front of him, made all the feelings of rejection come bubbling up again. 

“Because I'm trying to poach you from your current band? You look fucking miserable up there” Toru asked.

“I may be miserable with them, but not as miserable as when I see you” Taka yelled back before leaving a confused looking Toru behind.

* * *

Toru met up with his friend Yuri the next afternoon. He wanted to know why Taka hated him so much, and thought maybe he could get that from a mutual friend. 

“How're things going with trying to poach Taka?” Yuri laughed before Toru even got to the subject. 

“He doesn't seem to like being poached, and I can't figure out what I did to piss him off” Toru admitted. 

“He works at a restaurant in Shibuya, maybe you pissed him off at work as a customer?” Yuri suggested. 

Toru's head perked up at that, “which restaurant?” 

“I'm not sure the name, but I'll text you later to tell you. I think it's Italian food” Yuri responded.

* * *

That night, Toru showed up to rehearsal in high spirits. 

“We're making progress on operation poach vocalist” Toru announced as he walked into the rehearsal space. 

“Is he coming to the rehearsal tonight?” Ryota asked in shock before Toru broke his spirits. 

“No, but he works at an Italian restaurant in Shibuya. So. Tomorrow night, we eat Italian” Toru announced proudly before he heard all the other members sigh. “What? That's progress. We show up to his work, and convince him to join our band”

Alex laughed at Toru, “how do you even know he's working tomorrow night?” 

Toru frowned at that, he really wasn't sure. But he figured if they all showed up, they could maybe figure out more about Taka and use it to convince him to join.

* * *

“This is such a waste” Alex sighed as he looked at the time, “we've been here for two hours and haven't seen your precious vocalist” 

“Isn't it kinda rude to just sit here drinking water? We finished eating an hour ago…” Ryota pointed out. 

“Just leave then. I'll wait here since you really don't seem to care about finding a vocalist” Toru snapped as the other three members left. Toru wasn't really expecting them  _all_  to leave, but nonetheless they were gone. The waiter came by and Toru requested a dessert menu. He wasn't really hungry, but he did feel bad that he was taking up a table. 

The waiter returned with the menu, then informed Toru his shift was over and there'd be a new waiter to help him. Toru nodded as he began looking through the dessert menu. Toru sat alone for a few minutes, wondering whether or not he really wanted dessert. He finally decided to just order the cannoli. Toru wasn't sure whether or not he would finish it, but he would at least order something. 

Toru was distracted from his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice, “did you want dessert sir?” 

Toru looked up and saw a now angry Taka standing in front of him. “Yea I'll have the cannoli”

Taka sighed as he wrote down the order and left the table quickly. 

Taka tried to ask if someone else could deal with that table, but was informed he was the only waiter currently working and would have to do it himself. 

Taka slammed the plate on the table, “here's your cannoli” 

“That's not a nice way to treat a customer” Toru laughed as he looked up at Taka. 

“Yea, well, you're not nice either. Why are you even at my work?” Taka asked as he looked over at Toru. 

“I like Italian food, is that so wrong?” Toru smiled in response. “It's a shame your shift didn't start earlier though, you could have met your band mates”

Taka rolled his eyes at that, “I already know my bandmates, and I'm not joining your stupid band, you jackass” 

“Watch your mouth in front of customers” Toru smiled as he watched Taka walk away.

* * *

Toru announced to the rest of the members he saw Taka after they had left. 

“Are we sure this vocalist even exists?” Alex asked as he looked at Toru. 

“Yes, obviously he exists” Toru spat back. 

“My friend said there's a band playing at a club tomorrow, maybe we should check them out? Try poaching a different vocalist?” Ryota suggested as Toru glared at him. 

“Could be fun. Even if we don't poach the vocalist, we still get to go clubbing” Alex responded as they all looked at Toru. 

“Fine, we'll go out tomorrow night and check out this band” Toru admitted in defeat.

* * *

“Why are we even going clubbing? I need to rest” Taka whined as Takeru dragged him to a club.

“Because you're fucking miserable about this goddamn guy you went on one date with. Time to find you a new guy” Takeru informed him as they arrived at the club. 

Taka sighed as he entered the club with his fake id and ordered himself a jack and coke. He wasn't even sure if he was gay, and now Takeru was trying to off him to other guys. 

“Just tell me, which of these guys catch your eye?” Takeru asked as they both scanned the club. “He's kinda cute”

Taka looked over to the guy in blue Takeru was pointing to, and admitted he was kind of attractive. Takeru immediately got up and went to go find him, leaving Taka on his own.

* * *

“Why are we at a gay bar?” Tomoya asked as soon as he entered the club. 

“My friend didn't mention that when he told me there was a good band playing here tonight” Ryota admitted as Alex laughed. 

“It's ok, our good friend Toru has some experience in this” Alex patted Toru on the shoulder. 

And with that, Toru felt a heavy feeling in his chest. He completely forgot about the guy he went on a date with all those years ago. He felt horrible for leaving him like that. Toru felt even worse that he realised that's why Taka hates him. He went on a date with Taka. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also holy shit I received my first ever comment thank yoooou. When I first started writing I was like, "whatever, I did this for enjoyment, I don't reeeaaallly care whether or not anyone else enjoys this". I wasn't even planning on ever posting it, until I got drunk and was like, screw it we're doing this. And then to see it was someone whose work I've read and lurk often on other social media, ooooh exciting. It's going to go to my head, leave more, or don't. It's cool. I'm writing more either way.


	3. Operation Capture Vocalist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toru and Taka run into each other at a gay club, despite neither being gay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up: someone's drink gets spiked in this chapter, so um. I'll spoil shit for you, nothing bad happens, but, if you (understandably) don't wanna read that, ctrl+f the phrase:  
> How do you even remember Takeru?  
> And it'll take you to safety. 

“I need a drink, anyone want anything?” Toru asked as his friends were standing around awkwardly, waiting for the band to start. He really did not want to be in this gay club, especially not with Alex. He could practically write all the jokes Alex was about to make about Toru, especially when Alex figures out who Toru's desired vocalist is. 

“I don't know how badly I wanna see this band” Ryota admitted. 

“C'mon, it'll be fun, let's just hang around. Get me a beer Toru” Alex demanded as he found a table to sit at. 

"Whatever you wish Alex, anyone else want something?" Toru offered. Ryota and Tomo shook their heads awkwardly before Toru went off, grateful he could push off the teasing for at least a bit longer. 

Toru got up to go to the bar to get beers and noticed Taka flirting with some guy. Toru wasn't sure if this was a good time to poach the vocalist, nor was he was he sure he even wanted to anymore. He heard the band come on and saw Taka perked up to listen. He stared at the vocalist and that guy, wondering if they knew each other or just met at the bar. Then Toru noticed the guy pour something into Taka's drink causing Toru to stop cold, noticing Taka wasn't paying attention to the drink, only to the band. Toru decided to get up and say 'hi' to Taka, unsure of exactly how he was going to prevent Taka from drinking the drink. 

“What do you want?” Taka slurred as he took a large sip of the drink before putting it down on the bar.

Toru felt his stomach churn as he realised what would happen to Taka and opted to put his arm around him and whispered in his ear, “don't drink that, it's-” Toru was cut off by Taka weakly shoving him off him and taking another drink. 

Toru decided to ‘accidentally’ knock over the drink as Taka groaned about the wasted alcohol. He figured Taka was probably weak enough to just pick up. Toru wasn't sure if Taka had too much to drink, or if the drugs were kicking in, but Taka didn't put up much of a fight as Toru picked him up and dragged him out of the bar.

* * *

Toru wasn't really sure where he should take Taka, but knew he had to get him out of the situation. He heard Taka's phone ring and decided to answer it. He wasn't sure who was calling, but prayed it was someone who could help. 

“Hello?” Toru answered.   
“Who the hell is this?” The voice on the other end asked.   
“I'm Taka's friend, I found him passed out at a bar in Shibuya” Toru answered.   
“Where are you?” The voice on the other end asked.   
“Near 109” Toru answered as he looked around.   
“I'll be right there” the other person said before hanging up. 

Toru decided to text his friends about his whereabouts as he sat a sleepy looking Taka beside him. He realised he should have spilled the drink as soon as he saw that asshole spike it, but he figured it didn't matter now. There was no use in regretting his past actions, Taka would at least be safe. 

He heard the sound of someone running up behind him and figured this must be whoever called Taka. 

“What happened to him? I didn't leave him alone for overly long” the man yelled as he tried to slap Taka awake. 

“His drink was spiked” Toru answered as the man looked angrily at him, “not by me. I just saw some guy in a blue shirt pour something into his drink, I tried to warn Taka, but his response was to drink it” Toru was now crying, “I knocked it over after that, but I should have knocked it over as soon as that guy drugged it. I'm so sorry” 

“It's fine, I'll take him home. Thanks for keeping an eye on him. I'm Takeru, by the way” the man said as he extended his hand for a handshake. 

“I'm Toru” Toru responded as he shaked Takeru's hand. “Are you sure he'll be ok? Should we take him to a hospital or something? What if he has a reaction to whatever that was?” 

“He'll be fine, I'll take him back to his apartment” Takeru sighed as he tried to pick up Taka. 

“Do you need help?” Toru offered when he noticed Takeru struggle to pick Taka up. 

“Maybe…” Takeru answered as he watched Toru pick up Taka easily. 

“So how do you know Taka?” Toru asked as he followed Takeru. 

“We're childhood friends” Takeru responded coldly as he tried to avoid being too friendly to the guy who broke Taka's heart. 

Toru tried to ask more questions, but Takeru kept ignoring him when they arrived at the apartment Toru remembered leaving Taka at a few years ago. 

“Thanks for saving Taka, even if this is your fault” Takeru said as Toru stopped in front of the apartment. “I can carry him up from here”

“It's not my fault. I already told you, if it wasn't for me, Taka…” Toru felt himself tear up before finishing that thought. “I didn't do it, it was that other guy” 

“If you hadn't fucking shattered his heart, he wouldn't have even been there” Takeru responded sharply before he noticed Taka yawning. “Taka?”

“Where am I?” Taka asked softly as he tried to open his eyes. “My head hurts” 

“You're safe now” Toru responded. “Can you walk upstairs or should we carry you in?”

“Toru?” Taka whispered as he tried to open his eyes. “I'm so thirsty” 

“We'll get you something to drink, just stay still. Toru will carry you to your apartment” Takeru answered as he stroked Taka's cheek. Taka nodded as he stopped trying to open his eyes and rested his head on Toru's shoulder. 

Toru followed Takeru into the building, still carrying Taka. They rode the elevator in silence before getting out on the 6th floor and entering Taka's apartment. Takeru immediately grabbed a glass of water for Taka as Toru let him down on the couch. 

“Are his parents home?” Toru asked as Takeru walked over to him and got Taka to drink the water. 

“He lives alone, I'll stay with him tonight. You can leave now” Takeru answered as Taka sat up and drank the water. 

Toru nodded as he wrote his number on a spare piece of paper. “Call me if you need my help”

“Thank you. For taking care of Taka” Takeru admitted as Toru left the apartment.

* * *

“So Toru, hook up with some hot guy?” Alex teased as they arrived at band practice the next night. 

“No” Toru responded, not wanting to admit why he left. 

“Then why did you leave so abruptly?” Tomoya asked as he looked at Toru.

“No reason, I just left. Anyway, time to begin rehearsal” Toru tried to get off the subject, but Alex just continued to tease Toru about hooking up with guys. 

"Did you at least stay long enough to hear the band?" Ryota asked. 

"Can you all stop questioning me? I didn't hear the band, I didn't hook up with anyone. I'll continue getting our vocalist tomorrow night, ok?" Toru sighed before he threatened the other band members to start rehearsal. 

* * *

Toru decided to go to the bar where Taka's band was playing the next night and waited outside to check on Taka. 

“Why are you continuing to stalk me? I'm not joining your stupid band” Taka sighed as he saw Toru at the end of the night. 

“I actually wasn't going to work on convincing you tonight. I just wanted to make sure you were ok” Toru admitted. 

“Why wouldn't I be ok?” Taka sighed as he crossed his arms and looked at Toru. 

“Because you were drugged the other night?” Toru said as he looked at Taka's shocked face. “Did your friend Takeru not tell you?” 

Taka just stared at Toru, “you're lying. Why are you bringing Takeru into this?” 

Toru sighed as he looked at Taka, “I'm sorry, I assumed Takeru told you…” 

“How do you even remember Takeru? You don't even remember me” Taka asked as he sat down on the cold concrete with his back against the building. 

“I am sorry about that, Taka” Toru said as he sat beside Taka. “I don't know why my jerk of a friend told your friend I'm gay” 

“It's fine, I'm not gay either” Taka responded, even if it wasn't fine.

“You were at a gay club, flirting with some guy” Toru laughed. “I mean, I don't know how drunk you were before I found you. But, you were definitely flirting” 

“How did you even know I was at a gay club?” Taka asked. “Are you now stalking me everywhere? Where am I safe? You know where I work, where I play gigs, which clubs I go to” 

“The bassist in my band heard the band playing there had a good vocalist, so we went to check it out” Toru admitted. 

“So I'm not the only vocalist you're stalking?” Taka laughed, “I feel like I'm being cheated on” 

Toru shrugged, “I didn't even see the band. I was a bit busy saving your ass, literally, from creepy rapists” 

“I'm not sure you're telling the truth, I don't remember seeing you at the club. You probably just stalked me there and claimed you saved me” Taka laughed. 

“How would I know you live on your own on the 6th floor of the apartment if Takeru and I didn't carry you home?” Toru asked with a laugh. 

“Because you stalk me?” Taka laughed. 

“Call Takeru. Ask him if I carried you home, if he says yes you join my band” Toru responded as he looked at Taka. 

“I thought you weren't going to get me to join your band tonight?” Taka playfully shoved Toru. 

“Fine, but, come see us rehearse at least” Toru pleaded with him. 

“I'll think about it” Taka sighed as he got up and left. 

Toru immediately got up and chased after him, “you don't even know where we rehearse” 

“I'm sure you'll find me” Taka laughed.

* * *

Toru showed up at Taka's work the next night after the dinner rush and was sat down by the hostess before Taka came to take his order. 

“Dining alone?” Taka noted as he looked at Toru. "Do you even have a band or are you just horrible at making friends?"

“What time are you off work? I'll introduce you to my band. You're coming to join us at rehearsal tonight, right?” Toru asked as he looked at Taka. 

“Like I'm going to tell you that” Taka responded as he placed a breadbasket in front of Toru. 

“I thought you were going to join my band?” Toru laughed. 

“I said I'd think about seeing you rehearse” Taka responded before leaving the table. 

“Tonight. One o'clock. I'll wait here for you” Toru called out after Taka.

* * *

Taka finished his shift and closed the restaurant and found Toru waiting outside the restaurant for him. 

“Where are you going? The rehearsal space is that way” Toru announced as he saw Taka walking away. Toru chased after him and dragged him kicking and screaming all the way to the studio. “You'll thank me for this in 10 years”

“No I won't” Taka responded as he tried to pull himself away from Toru. 

“You really should give me more thanks. Have you even thanked me for saving you? Even Takeru thanked me. And he seems to hate me” Toru responded as he continued walking Taka to the studio. 

“Probably because he thinks you're a jackass who broke his best friend's heart” Taka laughed before Toru dragged him into a building and into an elevator. “But thanks for saving me the other night, I guess”

“You're welcome” Toru replied as they reached the desired floor. Toru expected Taka to continue walking, but he just stood there and Toru decided to pick him up and carry him to the room. 

“Put me down!” Taka laughed as Toru entered the studio to three very confused looking men. 

“I got us a vocalist” Toru announced proudly as he placed Taka on the floor. 


	4. Ramen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toru stalks Taka to his apartment every night, and claims it's because he wants ramen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how to make non-instant ramen, but pretend it's quick and Taka can make it in record time apparently. 

“Holy shit, the mysterious vocalist exists” Ryota remarked as he saw Taka in the flesh.  

"Holy shit, the mysterious band exists" Taka snarked back as he crossed his arms. "Do you people play instruments or did your jackass friend just kidnap me for you all to gawk at me?"

“Did you... kidnap him for the purpose of joining the band?” Tomo asked cautiously, looking over at Toru.

Toru laughed in response to that, "I didn't kidnap him. He's here to join the band by his own choice"

“I'm not joining your stupid band, you stood outside my work like the fucking stalker you are, and dragged me to this place” Taka spat back. 

“He's scary” Tomo noted to Ryota who nodded in agreement. Taka gave them both dirty looks at that but decided to let it go for now.  

Taka watched them rehearse, criticised them, then left halfway through a song. 

Toru sighed as he watched Taka leave. “Let's call it early, I'll go follow him” 

Alex laughed in response to that as Toru gave him a dirty look and left the studio.  

* * *

 

Toru followed Taka out of the studio into the cold night and ran after him. 

“Why did you leave early?” Toru called out as Taka turned around. 

“Your band's alright, I guess, needs a lot more practice. Probably some better songs too” Taka responded.

“And you'll help us with that?” Toru asked with a smile. 

“I'll think about it. But I'm kinda hungry, wanna get ramen?” Taka asked as he looked at Toru. 

“Uh, yea, sure. Anything for our vocalist. I'm not sure how many ramen places are open at this time though” Toru responded. 

“I'll make us ramen” Taka laughed as he began walking to his apartment with Toru.

\---

“Why do you live here?” Toru asked as he walked into the elevator. He hadn't really thought much about the location of the apartment, but just realised it was nowhere near Taka's school.

“That's a bit rude” Taka responded as he pressed the 6th floor button. 

“I just mean, you go to Keio right? This is kinda far from Keio” Toru answered. 

“When did I say I go to Keio?” Taka asked as he scrunched his face, suddenly worried Toru had googled him. 

“Ah, now  _you've_ already forgotten our date a couple years ago. You mentioned you go to Keio” Toru laughed as he followed Taka into his apartment. 

“Yea, I don't go to Keio” Taka admitted. 

“Why would you lie about that? To impress me?” Toru laughed as Taka got a beer from his fridge and began making ramen. 

“I didn't lie, per se. I did go to Keio, at one point. I met you so soon after dropping out of Keio, that I didn't want to tell you that” Taka admitted. 

Toru looked at Taka in shock, “so what school do you go to now?” 

“I don't go to school. I dropped out and got a job” Taka responded as he drank his beer and inspected Toru's reaction. “Worried you've accidentally recruited a dumbass into your band?”

“Why did you drop out?” Toru asked. 

Taka sighed in response, “because you did recruit a dumbass into your band. I should have never got into that school” 

Toru smiled at Taka, “did you just admit I successfully recruited you?” 

Taka looked over at Toru and crossed his arms, “no, what I meant is you're  _trying_ to recruit a dumbass into your band”

Toru laughed at that and began going through the magazines on Taka's table, “why do you live on your own?” 

“Why do you ask so many questions?” Taka sighed as he got himself another beer. 

“How old are you, anyway?” Toru asked as he pointed to the beer Taka was drinking. 

“17” Taka responded. 

“Not sure you're supposed to be drinking at that age” Toru responded with a judgemental tone. 

“And how old are you?” Taka asked as he sat next to Toru. 

“16...” Toru admitted. 

“Hmmmm…. Did you not go to a 20+ gay club the other day? Maybe you should stop judging me for underage drinking and look in the mirror” Taka laughed. “What are you doing in Tokyo, anyway? Is that a Kansai dialect I detect?” 

“Came here with Ryota for that dance group I used to be in” Toru shrugged. 

“Will you dance for me?” Taka asked with a laugh as he looked at Toru who just laughed in response and gave an adamant no. 

* * *

 

Toru arrived at the studio the next night and found Alex hanging around alone. 

"You're not usually the first here" Toru noted. 

“I was too eager to know if your boyfriend was going to return for a second night” Alex laughed, “if you told me the vocalist you were pursuing so aggressively was Takeru's friend I would have helped you in the mission”

“Shut the fuck up about that” Toru sighed. “I forgot about that until I saw Taka at the gay club” 

“So that's why you left? To hook up with him?” Alex laughed even harder before Tomoya and Ryota entered the studio. 

“We found out who that vocalist from yesterday is” Ryota announced proudly. 

Alex laughed in response to that before Toru shoved him.

“I was cleaning out my closet today, when I found this” Tomoya held up a magazine with a random boyband on the cover. 

Toru and Alex looked over it, sure enough, there was a guy on the cover who looked like Taka. They flipped through the pages, when Toru noticed something, “it's not him. They have different names”

“Taka is obviously short for Takahiro though” Ryota pointed out. 

“No, they have different  _last_ names. Taka's last name is Morita, I saw it on his apartment door” Toru admitted. 

“When did you go to his apartment?” Ryota asked as they heard Alex die of laughter in the background. 

“I went by his place last night” Toru admitted before they heard the door open and all turned around in unison.

“Was I not supposed to be here? Toru said we practice at 1am every...” Taka trailed off when he saw the magazine Tomoya was holding. He immediately exited the room and heard Toru follow him. 

“Why are you running away?” Toru asked as he cornered Taka and prevented him from entering the elevator. 

“I thought you liked my voice without knowing who I am” Taka said softly as he looked  
up at Toru. 

“I don't know who you are, the only thing I know about you is you were in a Western cover band” Toru responded. 

“Then why were you going through a fucking NEWS magazine?” Taka yelled in response. 

“Is that you? They have a different last name…” Toru asked as he touched Taka's arm. 

“I changed my last name when my parents got divorced. I was tired of being associated with it” Taka admitted. 

Toru looked at Taka, “I've never even heard of that NEWS band before. Tomo brought the magazine with him, I saw it for the first time 5 seconds ago. Just, come back and rehearse with us, please?” 

Taka looked up at Toru, he hadn't even realised how Toru had broken him down again until he felt his insides turn to goo at the sound of his pleading. Taka nodded his head before following Toru back into the rehearsal room. 

“Ok, new rule. Anyone who mentions Taka's old boyband gets kicked out” Toru announced as Taka followed behind him. 

“I can't believe we actually thought Taka was scary only to find out-” Ryota cut himself off when he noticed Taka giving him the ultimate death glare.

“he's still scary” Tomoya noted. 

“I'm going to fucking murder you two” Taka announced as he charged towards Ryota and Tomoya before being held back by Toru. 

“Ok, enough of this, we're just gonna rehearse, ok?” Toru sighed.

* * *

 

“Why are you still stalking me?” Taka asked as he realised Toru had followed him all the way home from the studio. 

“Are you making me ramen again?” Toru asked with a smile as he got into the elevator up to Taka's apartment. 

“No” Taka responded as he exited the elevator and went into his apartment. “Don't you have school in the morning?” 

“Yea, but, I wanted to hang out with you” Toru admitted. 

“Aren't your parents going to get worried if you keep staying at my place instead of going home?” Taka asked as he got out beer for both of them. 

“I don't live with my parents” Toru admitted, earning a look from Taka. “I live with Ryota, the bassist. We live in a dorm room” 

“Well then, won't Ryota think it's weird you go home with me rather than with him?” Taka asked before sitting on the couch next to Toru. 

“He's my friend, not my parent. He doesn't keep tabs on me at all times” Toru laughed.

* * *

 

“Toru didn't come home last night, again” Ryota sighed as he stood in front of Alex's locker, “Probably with that scary vocalist” 

Alex laughed in response to that, “he sure loves that vocalist”

Ryota just stared at him weirdly, “why do you laugh every time Toru mentions spending time with Taka?”

“Ah my friend, because a little birdie told me that Toru once went on a date with Taka” Alex responded as he patted Ryota's shoulder. 

Ryota stared at Alex in disbelief, “who told you that?” 

“Toru” Alex laughed, “I set them up a few years ago. I didn't know Toru liked him so much though to continue stalking him years later”

“You're lying, Toru's not gay” Ryota replied.

“He's not gay, apparently. He told me if I ever told anyone he'd kill me, and whoever I told. So. You should probably never breathe a word of this to anyone for both our sakes” Alex said as he watched Toru walk up to them.  

“Good morning” Toru greeted them. 

“Why didn't you come home last night?” Ryota asked before even greeting Toru. 

“I went over to Taka's, I'm trying to make him feel welcome in the band, because the rest of you sure as hell don't even bother” Toru responded before stomping off to class. 

Alex suggestively wiggled his eyebrows at Ryota, who shook his head and then followed Toru off to class.

* * *

 

Taka was walking back to his apartment after practice, went to hold the door open for Toru, when he suddenly realised the entire band had followed him. They had been together for a few months, but no one other than Toru had ever tried to make much of an effort other than Toru to get to know Taka. 

“Why the hell are all you following me?” Taka asked in a stern voice as he pushed the elevator button. 

“Toru said you make good ramen” Tomo responded when they got into the elevator.

“I'm not making all of you ramen” Taka shot back. 

“I don't need ramen, I just wanted to see where Toru spends all his time” Ryota said quietly as he walked into the apartment. 

“I don't spend all my time here…” Toru defended himself. 

“Yes you do. I never get a goddamn moment of spare time” Taka sighed as he watched Toru get beer for himself followed by Alex raiding the fridge next. 

“So Taka, how old are you to have such a nicely stocked fridge?” Alex asked as he admired how much alcohol was in there, “I don't think you're supposed to store hard liquor in the fridge though”

“Not old enough to drink this legally” Taka laughed as he continued drinking the beer. 

“We should play a drinking game” Alex announced as he poured himself vodka and placed it on the counter for everyone. 

“Which one?” Tomo asked as he grabbed himself some vodka as well. 

“Never have I ever” Alex responded, earning a groan from Toru, “why that response, Toru? You got secrets you don't want us to know about?” 

Taka looked over at Toru nervously, wondering whether or not Toru had told Alex. Everyone else stood in a circle around the table as Alex began the game. 

"Never have I ever cheated on someone” Alex stated as he looked around and saw no one drink, “off to a rowdy start I see…” 

“Never have I ever played drums” Ryota laughed. 

“No fair, you can't target specific people” Tomo cried as he watched Taka also drink. “Never have I ever kissed anyone?” 

Everyone else broke out laughing at that and took shots. 

“Never have I ever had sex” Toru went next and watched with wide eyes as Taka was the only one to drink. 

“Why's everyone looking at me like that? I thought you guys knew all about my sordid past. Hasn't everyone seen the godawful pictures?” Taka laughed before he realised everyone was still staring at him.

“Do you have a sex tape?” Ryota asked. 

“Never have I ever made a sex tape” Taka responded as he looked around. 

“You're still the only one who's had sex” Alex laughed. “Never have I ever had a one night stand”

“Why are you targeting me?” Taka groaned as he took another shot. 

“Never have I ever been in a boyband?” Ryota laughed as Taka took another shot. 

“This is mean, I thought Toru said to not to bring that up” Taka laughed after he poured himself more vodka. 

“Never have I ever been on tv” Tomo laughed. 

“Stop targeting me, this isn't fair” Taka whined before he noticed Toru also drinking, “when were you on tv?”

“Never have I ever seen an alien” Toru changed the topic quickly as he watched Alex drink. 

“I'm with Taka, no more targeted questions” Alex answered. 

“Never have I ever stalked anyone” Taka announced proudly as Toru drank. 

“Never have I ever kissed a man” Alex said as he looked straight at Toru. 

Toru took a drink and watched Taka also take a drink. 

"Who was it?” Tomo asked as he looked at Toru. 

“Doesn't matter, I'm not gay” Toru responded angrily as he got up to leave for the night. 

“So much for my fun get to know each other game” Alex sighed as he watched Toru leave. 

“I'll go follow him” Ryota said as he left. 

“Are you making me ramen?” Tomo asked as he looked up at Taka. 

“No” Taka huffed and Tomo also left. 

“Those three are so rude. I apologise for the behaviour of my bandmates” Alex sighed as he looked at Taka. 

“Get out of my apartment” Taka fumed as he looked at Alex. 

“I'm not afraid of you like the others. How's Takeru doing? Haven't seen him much since I switched jobs” Alex laughed as he got himself comfortable on the couch. 

“How do you even know I have a friend named Takeru? Did you stalk me along with Toru?” Taka asked through gritted teeth. 

“Do you not remember me?” Alex asked as he looked straight at Taka, “I used to work with Takeru, we washed dishes together. I think I even once introduced you to one of my friends. Not sure which one though”. Alex tapped his chin as he pretended to think about which friend. 

Taka stared at Alex, suddenly realising this is the person who introduced him to Toru. “You're a fucking jackass” 

“I'm not a jackass” Alex laughed, “I introduced you to Toru, right? I take it your date went well if you kissed at the end of it?” Taka gritted his teeth but didn't say anything as Alex continued, “I knew who you were when I met you a couple years ago. And I didn't tell Toru anything about your stupid boyband, your famous parents, or your sex scandal. Tomo was the one who told the other members about that. So am I really the member you're mad at?” Alex laughed before leaving Taka's apartment.

* * *

 

Ryota and Toru walked back to their dorm in silence. 

“Feels like it's been a while since I actually slept here” Toru laughed as he sat down on his bed upon arrival. 

“Probably because you spend all your nights with Taka” Ryota responded as he looked at Toru.

“I already told you, it's because I'm trying to make him feel welcome in the band. Can you at least try to get along with him?” Toru shot back as he looked at Ryota. 

“Where do you sleep when you stay there?” Ryota asked. 

“On his couch?” Toru answered as he looked at Ryota suspiciously. 

“So Taka isn't the guy you kissed?” Ryota asked as he crossed his arms. 

Toru glanced up at Ryota, unsure how he could possibly know that. “I'm not answering that”

“So Alex wasn't lying? You Went on a date with him?”

“I'm going to fucking murder Alex” was all Toru said before getting under the covers and pretending to be asleep. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alex has really good memory in this apparently, Alex-is-an-alien confirmed. Anyway, I've spent a very, very long time debating whether or not I was going to shamelessly beg for comments again. I should probably just press publish.


	5. First Live

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taka manages to book them for their first live performance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol this is shitty, I try to add more than just dialogue but I'm sick and lazy.   
> Also today I was curious about that latest JK Rowling joke going around on twitter and:  
> "Jk rowling reveals that you can see that the sound of Toru's lap and the tabloids ever been so long since Toru last night was a bit of coke and the other members of the BUSINESS were in the room again"

The next night Taka was late to rehearsal. The rest of the members were all sitting around in silence as they waited for him to appear. 

"Maybe we should give up on him" Ryota suggested as he looked at the clock and saw it was 1:15. 

"No, he's our band member, we don't just give up on him" Toru responded as he felt Ryota glare at him.

"Maybe he changed his mind after we targeted him last night in that game?" Tomo suggested, "he was really mad when I left, did he say anything afterwards, Alex?"

"No, but if he's mad at anyone, it'd be you. You're the one who informed us of his boyband, famous parents and sex scandal" Alex responded. 

"Sex scandal?" Tomo asked as he looked at Alex. 

"Who are his parents?" Ryota asked as well. 

"Sorry I'm late" Taka greeted them as he walked into the studio, "it was really busy at work and I got stuck cleaning up a giant mess" 

Toru looked over at Taka, got out his notebook and wrote some stuff down. 

Taka hovered over his shoulder, reading the book, "why am I getting a strike? And another strike? Aren't people only meant to get one strike at a time?"

"You're late by 15 minutes." Toru responded. "You get a strike for each 5 minutes you're late"

Taka scrunched his nose at that, "I didn't even know that was a rule, that's not fair" 

"Fine, I'll let it go this time with just one strike. But next time, a strike for each 5 minutes" Toru sighed as he crossed out two of Taka's strikes. 

"Not fair! I didn't get that kinda leniency, and you made up that rule on the spot when you gave me 4 strikes!" Alex yelled at Toru. 

"What are the strikes even for?" Taka asked as he looked around the room. 

"You get punished after 5 strikes" Toru answered as he looked at Taka. 

"What kind of punishment?" Taka asked nervously. 

"No one's ever gotten 5 strikes before" Toru responded. "Anyway, now that you're here, time to rehearse"

* * *

 

Toru followed Taka home as usual after rehearsal. Taka had began giving up trying to get Toru to stop following him and decided to just go with it. Truthfully, Taka did enjoy Toru's company, he really just put up a fight so Toru wouldn't get too comfortable. As well Taka was glad it was only Toru, no one else would be there to bother them. 

Toru got all the way to Taka's apartment, got them both beer and sat at the kitchen table before he noticed Taka hadn't put up a fight. 

Taka had began making ramen out of habit for both of them when he noticed Toru laugh, "what's so funny?"

"Nothing, I just realised this is the first time you've let me follow you here without first kicking off" Toru laughed. 

Taka shrugged at that, "it is kinda lonely living on my own sometimes" 

"Why do you live on your own? How well does that restaurant even pay you to afford a place like this?" Toru asked as he looked around the large apartment. 

Taka shrugged and passed him a bowl of ramen. 

"Do your parents visit you often?" Toru asked as he began eating the ramen. 

"No" Taka responded as he sat beside Toru. 

"But you're underage, you can't sign an apartment contract on your own" Toru noted. 

"My mom signed the contract, she's never come to see me though" Taka admitted. 

"Does she live far away?" Toru asked, unsure how much more information he could get before Taka would eventually get too irritated to continue answering. 

"She lives in Ginza" Taka responded. 

"She lives in Ginza and she never sees you?" Toru looked at Taka in shock. 

"No, she hates me" Taka said with a sad tone as Toru put his arm around him, "I don't need your sympathy, I've been making it this long on my own" 

Toru pulled Taka into a hug, ignoring the protests and held onto him tightly. 

Taka was yelling and laughing so much for Toru to let him go, neither of them noticed a third person in the apartment before Takeru pushed Toru off Taka. 

"Did you miss the part where he said to let him go?" Takeru growled angrily as he glared at Toru. 

"I was just hugging him, is that a problem?" Toru asked as he sat back down at the table and continued drinking his beer. 

"Well he clearly didn't want to be hugged, so yea I suppose it is" Takeru responded angrily as he watched Toru continue eating. 

Toru looked at Taka, who seemed to have gone quiet and he decided to get up and leave. Toru gave Taka a small hug before leaving, "see you tomorrow?"

"Wait, I thought tomorrow was a day off?" Taka asked as he looked at his calendar. 

"I'll still see you tomorrow?" Toru laughed before squeezing Taka's shoulder. 

"Fine, you goddamn stalker" Taka laughed as Toru left. He turned to face Takeru, "what?"

"I didn't say anything" Takeru laughed as he watched Taka clean Toru's bowl off the table. "You just went to yelling at him to get off you, to being friendly, to calling him a stalker in such a short span of time"

Taka nodded awkwardly, "I wasn't really objecting to the hugging, just the sympathy part. The hugging part was kind of nice. Anyway, when are you going to learn to knock?" 

"I would have knocked, if I hadn't heard you yelling 'get off me you jackass' all the way down the hall" Takeru laughed. "Since when are you even friends with that guy?"

Taka scrunched his nose, "I gave in and joined the band a few months ago, did I not tell you that?" 

"No, I think I would remember that" Takeru laughed. "but what was he doing here?" 

Taka shrugged, "he kinda follows me around. I assumed the stalking would stop after I joined the band, but he just, follows me home from rehearsal every night and I make him ramen" 

"Ahhh, so things are progressing well in your relationship?" Takeru asked as he drank his beer. 

"friendship. We're friends. He's not gay, I'm not gay, we're friends" Taka corrected as he watched Takeru laugh. "I'm not gay"

"Sure you're not" Takeru winked as Taka shoved him off the barstool.

* * *

 

"Ah, someone's home before morning" Ryota noted as he saw Toru enter their dorm room. 

"Shut up" Toru responded as he got into his pjs and laid in bed. 

"Trouble in paradise with Taka?" Ryota laughed as he looked at Toru. 

"No, Taka's good. The band is good, all is good" Toru answered as he set an alarm. 

"Then why aren't you staying over at your boyfriend's house?" Ryota asked as he looked at Toru.

"Probably because I don't have a boyfriend, also I'm not gay" Toru sighed as he got into bed, "good night" 

"It's not really fair that you told Alex about your date with Taka but not me. I'm the one who's your best friend" Ryota noted. 

"Fine, what do you want to know about it?" Toru sighed as he rolled over to face Ryota. 

Ryota perked up and mentally began listing questions, "when was it?" 

"A couple years ago" Toru responded. 

"did you go on more than one date?" Ryota asked. 

"No, it was just one date. Alex lied and told Taka's friend that I was interested in men. I barely knew it was a date, but at the end Taka kissed me. I got freaked out, pushed him away, and left without ever mentioning it again" Toru answered. 

"And have you mentioned it since he joined the band?" Ryota asked. 

"Not really. I apologised to him before convincing him to join, and he said he wasn't even gay. So that's kinda the end of that story. Anyway, it's almost 4, will you let me sleep?" Toru groaned as he rolled over and fell asleep.

* * *

 

Taka arrived early to the rehearsal room like a ball of energy and saw Toru in there alone and went running up to him and jumped on him. 

"What the-" Toru questioned in response to Taka straddling him. 

"We're performing at Yuki's bar next month" Taka squealed as he hugged Toru and rested his head on his shoulder. 

"What? Are you sure we're ready for that?" Toru asked without even addressing their current position. 

"Yesss we're ready" Taka continued squealing before being interrupted by the sound of Ryota coughing in the background. 

"Ready for what?" He laughed. 

Toru didn't even realise he was instinctively holding Taka up, until Taka began hitting him and begging to be let go. 

Taka then went running up to Ryota, bouncing off his shoulders. "We're. Gonna. Perform. Live" Taka announced between bounces. 

"We. Fucking. Suck" Ryota responded as he took his turn bouncing on Taka's shoulders. 

Taka shoved Ryota before Toru got in between them, "we're gonna practice really hard then, right? And we're gonna get along as a band" 

"Fine" Ryota sighed as he looked at Taka. 

The other members arrived as Toru told them the news, followed by an intense rehearsal.

* * *

 

Toru was going to follow Ryota home that night but he as soon as he said bye to Taka, Taka looked shocked. 

"You're not gonna come over tonight?" Taka asked sadly as he looked at Toru. 

"I never sleep, Taka. I'm up with you all night..." Toru heard Alex laughing in the background but chose to ignore it and continue, "...and your couch isn't actually very comfortable to sleep on" 

"You can sleep in my bed if you want" Taka offered as he looked at Toru, "it's really big and comfy" 

Toru heard Alex laughing in the back again, told him to shut up then declined Taka's offer, "I probably should just go to my dorm room" 

Taka nodded as he hugged Toru goodbye and turned to leave. 

"Where's my goodbye hug?" Alex laughed as Taka turned around to give him the finger. "What the hell's wrong with you, Toru? Your boyfriend invites you to go have sex with him and you turn him down? I swear, something's off with your brain" 

"He's not my boyfriend, and he didn't just offer to have sex with me" Toru gritted his teeth in response and continued home ignoring Alex.

* * *

 

The next day was meant to be a day off, but Toru decided that since they had a performance to practice for, they should practice all day solo then meet up at night to rehearse properly. Toru even threatened them with showing up to their respective apartments and ensuring they were practising. However, Toru knew full well he was only going to end up at one of their apartments. 

"I'm going to practise I swear, you just fucking woke me up" Taka yawned as he answered the door. 

"It's 10am Taka. Time to wake up and practise" Toru sighed as he walked in the apartment with his guitar. 

"can I at least have breakfast first?" Taka asked as he watched Toru set up. 

"Fine" Toru sighed as he put the guitar down and followed Taka to the kitchen. 

"You can practise, I'm making breakfast for me" Taka laughed as he began measuring out the rice. 

"you're gonna eat all that rice yourself?" Toru chuckled. 

"Yes. I'm a growing boy..." Taka answered. 

"You seem kinda short for a growing boy" Toru laughed. 

"Emphasis on growing" Taka explained, "anyway. Don't you have 3 other band members to monitor today?" 

"But you're the most likely to procrastinate. Alex and Tomo individually have the songs down pat, Ryota feels bad about being the least experienced and already practises daily. You on the other hand..." Toru trailed off. 

"I'm experienced. I was literally born to be a singer. That's literally all I've ever heard from when I was a fucking toddler" Taka snapped at Toru. 

"ok, stop being so dramatic. I'm sure no one told you as a toddler that you should be a singer" Toru laughed. 

"You know how most people have cut outs of birth announcements in the newspaper? Mine was in the goddamn tabloids with the headline 'Japan's next great singer'. My parents were just smiling, holding a day old me with that as the headline" Taka spat out. 

Toru just looked at Taka, unsure whether or not he was telling the truth, it seemed like a weird thing to make up. Then he remembered when Alex mentioned his parents in passing, "who are your parents?" 

"Some famous enka singers" Taka admitted for the first time in front of Toru. 

"Let's see them perform then" Toru responded as he opened up Taka's laptop and opened youtube, "what are their names?"

"Can we not?" Taka asked. He looked at Toru with puppy dog eyes that made Toru feel like his insides were melting. 

"We don't have to" Toru responded as he hugged Taka tightly, surprised there was no protest.

Toru felt Taka nuzzle his face into his chest and rested his head on Taka's. They stood there like that for a few minutes before the rice maker went off and they pulled apart awkwardly. 

Toru watched Taka put the rice in to two bowls and laughed, "I thought you weren't cooking rice for me?" 

"Habit I guess" Taka shrugged as he heard the door open. 

"Eeeeyyyy Taka" Takeru called out from the genkan. He entered the kitchen and gave a look to Taka and Toru eating rice together, "I knew he stayed here every night Taka, but isn't he usually gone by now?" 

"We're rehearsing for our first live next month" Taka responded as he jumped around and hugged Takeru. 

"Congratulations, but, don't you rehearse at nighttime?" Takeru asked. 

"Yes, and all day everyday for the next month" Toru smiled, "we should get a start on that, Taka"

Takeru sighed, "fine. But after your live, I get him during days again"

"Deal" Toru responded. He extended a hand to Takeru, but Takeru just left without saying anything. 

"He seems nice" Toru noted. 

"He is nice, he just hates you" Taka laughed.

* * *

 

"Did Toru show up at your place at any point today?" Tomo asked. Only Alex and Ryota were there so far. 

"Nope" Alex answered. 

"He wasn't in the dorm today" Ryota answered. 

"Ahhh, so he spent the entire day with..." Alex was cut off when he noticed Taka and Toru enter the room. 

"Everyone get some good practising in today?" Toru asked upon entering. 

"I did, what were you two up to?" Ryota laughed. 

"Practising" Taka answered.

* * *

 

After rehearsal, Toru followed Taka home as usual. They walked in silence until they reached Taka's apartment. Taka got them beer and ramen out of routine then they sat on the couch and wrote songs. 

"It's almost 3" Taka pointed out. 

"I can tell time" Toru laughed in response. 

"We should go to sleep" Taka said, looking at Toru. "Are you sleeping here or on the bed?"

"I don't actually find your couch uncomfortable, I just said that to get Alex off my back" toru admitted. 

"Oh" Taka responded. "Well I'm going to bed, you can follow me there if you want. Good night"

"good night" Toru said as he hugged Taka before laying back down on the couch.

* * *

 

"I think we're progressing nicely" Toru said. They had only a few more rehearsals before their first show and Toru did think they were good until Taka interrupted him. 

"Ryota's off beat, and your guitar's out of tune" 

"Thanks for the encouragement" Ryota responded. 

"Can I borrow a tuner?" Toru asked Alex. 

"You're supposed to do that before rehearsal, y'know..." Alex responded as he handed Toru the tuner. 

"Then why didn't you tell me that it was off tune?" Toru spat back. 

"Taka already told you that" Alex shrugged. 

"Anything I can do better?" Tomo asked as he looked around at the other bandmates bickering. 

"Yes, stop irritating me so much" Taka responded. 

"Ok, my guitar's good. Try again?" Toru said before starting again.

* * *

 

"I'm so nervous" Ryota remarked as the five of them stood around backstage before their first live. 

"just calm down, we'll be good. We've practised this" Toru responded. 

"Do a cartwheel" Taka suggested, earning a strange look from everyone. "What? You guys dance or whatever? Do something to get out the nervous energy, so you're left with just the feel good energy" 

"Are you trying to get me to break my arm right before we go out?" Ryota sighed as he looked at Taka. 

"No, I'm trying to help relax you. If you go out there with all this nervous energy, you'll be nervous. Do something that energises you, like a cartwheel or whatever it is dancers do" Taka responded. 

"I was a hip hop dancer, we don't do cartwheels. I don't know what the hell kind of dance moves you used to-" Ryota was cut off by Toru elbowing him.

"Is this really a good time to tease Taka? When he's trying to help you?" Toru sighed. "We're on in a few minutes"

* * *

 

Taka followed his bandmates off the stage afterwards, and was a wild ball of energy. The crowd had no idea who they were, and couldn't sing along or anything, but the thrill of the performance got Taka's heartbeat thumping as he walked off the stage and ran to Toru. He was so full of energy, he flung his arms around him and kissed him. He stayed like that for a few seconds before he came down to earth and took a step back and realised what he just did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooooooh boy. I made up the headline thing, but anyway


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex gets all the good secrets from both sides

  
Taka backed away from Toru slowly, he looked around and noticed everyone was looking at them. He was shocked that Alex wasn't dying of laughter, he was also silent. Everything seemed eerily silent. Taka didn't even want to look at Toru's face, Images still burnt in Taka's head of the last time they had kissed. 

“I'm sorry, it was the rush of the performance” Taka said, refusing to look up at Toru. 

“It's fine, we're all really excited that went well” Toru responded as he looked around and attempted to laugh it off. 

Alex began laughing hysterically and hugged Taka, “normally I'd make a joke about that, but I'm buzzing so I'll save the good jokes for tomorrow” 

Ryota and Tomo both laughed awkwardly in response before following the other members to Taka's apartment.

* * *

 

“Why are you four following me?” Taka sighed as he let them all into his apartment. 

“Because you have the nicest apartment, and we want to celebrate a job well done” Toru responded. 

“Also you have the best alcohol collection” Alex noted. He went straight to the fridge and found a bottle of vodka, “how many times have I told you to not store hard liquor in the fridge?” 

“only every fucking time you've been over” Taka sighed in response. 

“Then why don't you listen to my advice?” Alex asked. He got out 5 cups from Taka's cabinets and then poured them all a shot. 

“Because you've never told me why and I've never had a problem” Taka responded.

“Are you gonna propose a toast?” Toru laughed as he crossed his arms and looked at Alex. 

“Yes. To the band, and to me” Alex responded. 

“Like hell I'm toasting to you” Taka laughed before taking his shot.

“why are we toasting to you?” Tomo asked. 

“Ah, because our favourite manwhore is no longer the only member of this band to swipe his v card” Alex announced proudly. “I was gonna tell you idiot virgins this morning, but you all looked so nervous. I didn't want you to get even more nervous in the presence of a sex god like myself”

The rest of the band congratulated Alex awkwardly before Taka spoke, “did you just call me a manwhore?”  

“Yea, why?” Alex laughed. 

“I'm not a manwhore” Taka responded. “Either way, because you are such a jackass, Congratulations on conning a girl into sleeping with you” 

Everyone else laughed at that as Alex fumed, “I'm going to get you back for that”

“Just don't kill our vocalist, we need him to practise some more tomorrow night” Toru responded as he held Alex back from taking a swipe at Taka. 

Taka stuck his tongue out at Alex before Tomo spoke, “we're rehearsing again tomorrow? Shouldn't we take a day off to rest or something?” 

“No, we'll work tomorrow to fix the mistakes we made tonight” Toru responded as everyone groaned. “So, sleep well tonight and we'll reconvene tomorrow night”

“You guys should probably leave then, I'm going to sleep” Taka faked a yawn, hoping to get everyone else to leave him alone.

* * *

 

Toru and Ryota walked to their dorm in complete silence.

“What's going on with you and Taka?” Ryota asked upon reaching the confines of their dorm room. He looked over at Toru who was getting ready for bed, and got into bed without answering the question. 

“Good night” Toru responded. 

“That's not an answer” Ryota laughed. 

Toru sighed as he rolled over in bed to face Ryota, “nothing's going on between us. He just got over excited and accidentally kissed me”

“Does he like you though?” Ryota asked. 

“I've never asked him, but that wouldn't change anything. I'm not gay” Toru responded, “just go to sleep and forget about it”  

* * *

 

Toru showed up at Taka's apartment the next morning with hot chocolate and a breakfast sandwich. 

“Why are you here so early?” Taka groaned as he looked at Toru at his door. 

“Bringing you breakfast” Toru responded. 

“I know how to cook, you don't need to bring me… egg mcmuffins? Nevermind, you do need to bring me those” Taka laughed. He let Toru into the apartment and they both sat down at the kitchen table. Taka ate his sandwich in silence before noticing Toru didn't have one. “Why did you bring me a sandwich but not one for yourself?” 

Toru laughed as Taka eyed the sandwich suspiciously, “I was hungry and ate mine before coming here” 

“Did you bring all members sandwiches or just me?” Taka asked. He finished his sandwich and sat down on the couch after throwing out the packaging. 

“Just you” Toru admitted. 

“Be careful, the other members will think you're giving me special treatment” Taka laughed. 

Toru laughed as he got up from the kitchen table and went over to go sit on the couch beside Taka.

They sat in silence for a while before Taka broke it, “why are you here?” 

Toru sat back on the couch and shrugged, “Ryota was pissing me off last night. I woke up extra early to avoid him, got McDonalds and decided to buy some for you and take it to you” 

“What was Ryota doing?” Taka asked. 

Toru sighed as he looked at Taka, “asking me too many questions about why you kissed me last night”

“That was an accident, I really didn't mean to do that” Taka responded. 

“It's fine, I know that. Ryota just won't shut up about it” Toru sighed. 

“I am sorry” Taka said. “Does Ryota… know about our date?” 

“Yea” Toru responded, “apparently Alex let it slip to him” 

“Of course that jackass told Ryota” Taka sighed. 

“It's not that big a deal. We've moved on from that, right?” Toru asked as he looked at Taka who nodded.

“I'm not even gay, it was just a really big misunderstanding” Taka shrugged. 

“So you didn't like me?” Toru laughed as he nudged Taka. 

Taka groaned in response to that, “we're not talking about this”

Toru watched as Taka curled his legs in front of his chest and buried his head. “You did like me, didn't you?” 

“I just said we're not talking about this” Taka laughed in response. 

“Alex and I were skipping school the day I met you. He had just acquired fake ids for us and we decided to test them out and buy beer” Toru began speaking. “He was complaining about school, work, that kinda thing. Somehow we got onto the topic of you and Takeru. Alex mentioned he thought you two were dating. I guess I mentioned I thought you were cute, I barely remember. That's why Alex thought I was gay and tried to set us up” 

Taka sat back at that confession, not sure what to say. “That was a long time ago, we don't have to talk about it”

“I know, just. I feel like there's always an unsaid thing between us” Toru admitted. 

“And now it's said. So, I'm not gay, you're not gay. That's the end” Taka responded. 

“I mean, I'm not gay. I don't know about you” Toru laughed, “why did Takeru think you were gay?”

“I may have briefly mentioned you were hot?” Taka admitted with a laugh. “But really. I'm not gay. Are we practising today or are you just gonna sit here and interrogate me?”

“Interrogate you probably” Toru laughed in response. 

“Noo” Taka shrieked, “you know I hate being interrogated. Teach me to play guitar instead” 

Toru looked confused at that, “are you trying to take my job?” 

“No, it just might be easier to practise on my own if I knew how to play guitar” Taka admitted. 

“I would, but, you're not touching my guitar” Toru laughed. 

“One second” Taka got up and went to his bedroom for a few seconds then came back with an acoustic guitar. 

“Why do you have a guitar if you can't play it?” Toru asked as he held the guitar and tuned it. 

“I bought it on a whim” Taka shrugged. 

“Jesus, how the rich live…” Toru muttered to himself as he tested out the guitar. “Fine, I'll teach you. What do you know so far?” 

Taka stared at the guitar and tried to mimic the way Toru was holding it a few seconds earlier. “Ummm…” 

Toru burst out laughing as he watched Taka try to hold the guitar. “First of all, you're holding it the wrong way...” 

“Then teach me how to hold it properly you jackass” Taka laughed in response. 

“That's not any way to talk to someone who just offered to teach you guitar” Toru laughed as he picked up the guitar, flipped it around, and placed it back in Taka's lap. 

“I feel like I'm going to accidentally slap you in the face with it when I hold it this way and you sit on that side of me though” Taka laughed as Toru stared at him. 

“You're still right handed even if I sit on this side of you…” Toru laughed as Taka gave him a death glare, “I'll sit in front of you then…” 

Toru sat on Taka's coffee table in front of the couch. Their knees were touching and Toru was leaning over to manipulate Taka's fingers in various positions on the fretboard. He had never taught anyone guitar, and wasn't actually sure how to teach someone. But it wasn't like Taka had to master anything, just enough to vaguely play songs on his own to guide him when singing. 

“Do you remember what D was?” Toru laughed after what felt like the millionth time of guiding Taka's fingers. 

“Was it this?” Taka asked as he put his fingers on random frets and Toru laughed. Toru tried to put Taka's fingers back into the D formation but was distracted by the sound of the door opening. 

“When are you going to learn to lock your goddamn door Taka?” The voice called from the genkan.

Taka groaned from the couch area before he saw Takeru enter the room. 

“Wait, you said that after your first live, we went back to Takeru days and Toru nights? Wasn't that our deal?” Takeru asked out loud as he saw Toru sitting on the coffee table. 

“Nice to see you too Takeru” Toru called out, only to be ignored. 

Takeru sat beside Toru on the coffee table before Taka kicked him, “how many times have I told you not to sit on the coffee table?” 

“Then why does Toru get to sit on it?” Takeru asked, “also since when can you play guitar?” 

“He can't” Toru laughed in response to that, earning a dirty look from Takeru. “Didn't realise you still hate me. Anyway, I should head off. Um. See you tonight Taka” 

Taka watched as Toru left before putting down the guitar and smacking Takeru, “why do you always walk in and ruin nice moments I'm having with him?” 

“You've piqued my interest. what kinda nice moment was I ruining?” Takeru asked as he looked over at Taka. 

“He was teaching me to play guitar” Taka explained. 

“That's it?” Takeru asked, looking disappointed in Taka. “Don't most singers also play guitar? He was probably just being nice to you. He's like your co-worker right? That's professional development. I thought you were going to tell me something good”

“I kissed him last night?” Taka offered. 

“interest is piqued again. What happened? Was it before or after the live?” Takeru asked. 

“Afterwards. Like, right afterwards. Literally barely off the stage” Taka answered. 

“And what was his response?” Takeru asked. 

“Well I apologised, and he said it was fine then we all laughed it off awkwardly” Taka answered before Takeru slapped him on the side of the head. 

“You're such a fucking idiot. You're never gonna get with him if you apologise for kissing him” Takeru laughed, “what you should have done, is just acted like it wasn't a big deal and carried on” 

“But I don't want to get with him. We're friends, that's all. I'm not gay, remember?” Taka sighed. 

“Yea, that's why you get pissed off at me everytime I interrupt you two” Takeru nodded. “I understand, you're just in denial” 

“I'm not in denial” Taka fumed. There was a knock on the door and Taka got up to go answer it as he heard Takeru continue to yell that he was in denial. 

“In denial about what?” Alex laughed as he entered the apartment. 

“What are you doing here?” Taka asked as he stared at Alex. 

“You're not even going to let your favourite guitarist in?” Alex shook his head before he snickered and corrected himself, “second favourite guitarist” 

“Why are you here?” Taka sighed as he watched Alex walk into the kitchen and get vodka. “And why are you drinking vodka at noon?” 

“So quick to judge little one” Alex sighed before he walked over to the couch with the bottle. “Oh my old friend Takeru, what are you doing here?” 

“Takeru's here because he's my friend, why are you here?” Taka gritted his teeth as he sat on the couch. 

Alex sat beside Takeru on the coffee table. “Stop sitting on my table before I kick both of you out” Taka sighed. 

“Whose guitar is that?” Alex asked as he got off the table to go check out the guitar. 

“Mine, stop treating this apartment like it's yours” Taka continued fuming, “you still haven't told me why you're here”

“Oh yea, I got dumped. I was gonna go complain to Toru, but figured you have better alcohol and he'd probably be here anyway. Where is he? In your bedroom?” Alex laughed as he looked around before sitting back on the coffee table. 

Takeru laughed in response to that and Taka kicked him. “You just missed Toru actually. I'm here during the day, Toru is here at night” Takeru answered. 

“That's a cute custody agreement” Alex laughed, “Anyway, this is a nice guitar. How long have you had it for?” Alex asked as he began randomly playing with it. 

“I don't know, a few years probably?” Taka responded. 

“You should learn, and impress Toru with your guitar skills” Alex responded.

Takeru laughed hysterically at that, “Toru was teaching him earlier. Taka called it a nice moment that I ruined” 

Alex died laughing, “that's an even better idea. Why didn't I think of that. Did Taka tell you he kissed Toru last night?” 

“Yes” Takeru laughed in response. “I told him he shouldn't have apologised if he really wanted to get with him” 

“Do you Taka?" Alex laughed, "you really want to get with Toru?"

“No. I'm not gay” Taka fumed in response. 

“You like Toru though” Takeru pointed out. 

“I don't, he's just a friend” Taka answered. “Can you two leave and tell each other your dumb stories somewhere else?”

“Do you really want me telling Alex all the things you've ever said about Toru without you here to moderate?” Takeru pointed out. 

“Yes. I have some good ones about Toru as well” Alex responded. 

“Like what?” Taka asked as he sat up.

“Wouldn't you love to know” Alex laughed.

“No, I don't care” Taka sighed as he leaned back on the couch again.

“I wanna know” Takeru answered as Taka kicked him. 

“I'll tell you later” Alex winked as Takeru laughed. 

“Can you leave already? You're not even upset about your girlfriend dumping you” Taka sighed. 

“Fine, maybe Ryota and Toru will be better at mending my broken heart than you” Alex sighed as he got up. 

“Call me to tell those stories later!” Takeru called out before Alex left the apartment.

* * *

 

Toru walked back to his dorm room and found Ryota practising bass. He laid down on his own bed and got out his laptop to write a paper. 

“Where were you this morning?” Ryota asked with a laugh as he put down the bass. 

“You're not my dad, I don't need to tell you about my whereabouts” Toru sighed as he stared at the screen and began his homework. 

“Ah, so you were at Taka's” Ryota nodded, “what do you even do there all the time?” 

“Write music, practise, listen to music” Toru shrugged. 

“So that's all?” Ryota asked with a laugh. 

“Are you ever going to let me forget I went on a date with him when I was 14?” Toru sighed as he slammed the laptop shut. 

“Fine, I'll let that go” Ryota answered as Toru breathed a sigh of relief, “but you still haven't told me why you kissed him last night” 

“He kissed me, ask him not me” Toru sighed. 

“You didn't exactly push him off” Ryota pointed out. 

Toru sighed as he reopened the laptop and continued working on his paper. 

“You like him, why can't you just admit it?” Ryota sighed. 

“I'm trying to write a paper, leave me alone” Toru responded. 

“Admit it and I'll leave you alone” Ryota laughed. 

“No. I'm not admitting it” Toru shot back. 

“But you're not denying it” Ryota added. 

“Fine. I like him. Leave me alone about it, I'm trying to write a history paper” Toru put on his headphones and planned on ignoring Ryota for the rest of the day. 

After a few hours of Toru writing a paper and Ryota practising bass, Alex randomly walked in the room and greeted them. 

“What are you doing here?” Ryota asked as Alex sat next to him on the bed, “why does your breath reek of alcohol?”

Toru took off his headphones and put away his laptop before questioning Alex, “how did you even get in?”

“Followed someone else in” Alex laughed. 

“You know you're not supposed to do that, right?” Toru sighed. 

“No, I don't live here. I don't know the rules. Go complain to whoever let me in” Alex laughed. 

“Why are you drunk?” Ryota asked again. 

“Got dumped and raided Taka's fridge. I wanted to see my precious friend Toru, but was shocked to hear that he has a joint custody agreement over Taka's time” Alex laughed. 

“Shut up” Toru sighed. 

“You can teach him guitar to get in his pants all you want, but how will you ever compete with his childhood friend Takeru?” Alex pointed out. 

“Who's Takeru?” Ryota asked. 

“Taka's other love interest” Alex responded. 

“Taka doesn't like Takeru. Or guys in general, he's straight” Toru said. 

“Takeru likes Taka though. It's obvious, and if you don't make a move on him soon, Takeru will and bam, missed chance. Also Taka isn't straight, bisexual probably” Alex answered. 

“How do you even know these things?” Toru asked. 

“Well. The first time I ever met him, he was completely disconnected from the conversation. I don't think he even caught my name. Then you show up and he's practically drooling over you. If it weren't for the fact that I recognised him and had seen pictures of him naked in bed with some girl, I'd say he's gay as hell” Alex explained. 

“In what scenario have you ever seen Taka naked in bed?” Ryota asked awkwardly. 

“Do you idiots never read magazines? He was all over them a few years ago” Alex sighed. “But anyway, he likes guys, time to man up Toru” 

“He doesn't like guys” Toru groaned again, “shouldn't you be practising guitar or something?”

“Why would he ask you to teach him to play guitar when I'm the better guitar player?” Alex laughed. “I hear it was quite the cosy moment” 

“He swore at me everytime he messed up, that's hardly cosy” Toru sighed. 

“Ahh, so you wish it was cosier” Alex laughed, “Buy him a guitar strap, then you can hold him from behind as you guide his fingers along-”

“That's enough from you” Toru cut him off. 

“Along the fretboard Toru, stop with your sexual fantasies. I thought you didn't even like him” Alex laughed. 

“Just shut up would you” Toru sighed as Ryota laughed, “don't you start either Ryota” 

“Oooh, what does Ryota know?” Alex rubbed his hands in anticipation. 

“Nothing” Toru responded sharply for him. 

“Toru admitted to liking Taka” Ryota laughed before Toru walked across the room to kick him in the balls. 

Alex laughed hysterically as Ryota rolled around around in pain. 

“Tell anyone that and you'll suffer the same fate” Toru spat out before leaving the dorm. 


	7. Alex-Sensei

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure I haven't played guitar in over 5 years... I stopped playing because my fingers are too goddamn small and I didn't have a hot man to teach me properly... hmm... I should work on that...   
> But first, I think I'm gonna google "how to write a story that isn't entirely dialogue", I need to work on my shit...

Toru showed up at the rehearsal space early and found Taka alone practising guitar on the floor. Part of him was kind of surprised Taka was actually practising, he had kind of assumed Taka was just trying to change subjects earlier and thought the guitar was the best way.

"Hey" Taka greeted Toru as Toru sat down in front of him. "I'm trying to practice guitar. This one is D, right?"

Toru was distracted by Taka's hopeful smile he hadn't even noticed Taka wasn't doing it properly at all.

"Not quite" Toru laughed, "it's supposed to be like this..." Toru guided Taka's fingers to the proper placement, "try strumming now"

"Thanks" Taka smiled as they continued while waiting for the others to show up.

* * *

 

The next morning, Toru and Taka were playing guitar again when Takeru entered unannounced.

"What are you doing here again?" Taka groaned as Takeru sat down on the coffee table.

"The agreement was, I get you during the day and Toru gets you during the night" Takeru smiled. 

"I'll take that as my cue to leave then" Toru groaned as he got up and left.

Takeru waited for the door to shut before turning back to Taka who was mindlessly strumming. "what did you do last night?"

"Usual" Taka responded.

"No progress then?" Takeru laughed.

"My guitar skills are coming along nicely" Taka answered.

"That's not what I meant" Takeru sighed loudly.

There was a knock at the door and Taka got up to answer it.

"Why are you here?" Taka groaned loudly as Alex entered the apartment.

"Good morning to you too Taka" Alex laughed as he walked to the coffee table and sat beside Takeru. "How's the guitar playing?"

Taka shrugged, "alright I guess"

"Show me what you know" Alex laughed as Taka picked up the guitar.

"Is this C?" Taka laughed in embarrassment.

"Jesus Christ. What the hell is Toru even teaching you..." Alex sighed.

"I'm bad at remembering where my fingers are meant to be" Taka admitted.

"I can see that. How is he even teaching you?" Alex laughed.

"I hold the guitar, he places my fingers on this thing, tells me the name of the chord, and we move to the next one?" Taka answered as Alex laughed.

"That may work to get into his pants, but you're never actually going to learn guitar if all he does is play with your fingers" Alex sighed. "Your problem is, you don't pay attention to where your fingers are. He does the hard work, and you sit there thinking of other kinds of hard things"

"what the hell. No I don't..." Taka defended himself.

"Then I'll teach you how to actually play guitar" Alex offered.

"No, Toru's teaching me. I don't want you to teach me" Taka responded as Alex and Takeru laughed.

"Why do you want Toru to teach you rather than me?" Alex laughed. "I'm the better guitar player anyway"

Taka groaned in response to that.

"it's because he thinks of it as an intimate thing he does with Toru rather than actually learning a skill" Takeru laughed.

"What are you two? My therapists?" Taka groaned as he put the guitar down and laid on the couch.

"Yes. Tell us everything about Toru" Takeru joked.

"No" Taka spat back.

"Then let me teach you to play guitar" Alex responded.

"Fine. Teach me sensei" Taka said as he sat back up.

"Do you also call Toru sensei when he teaches you guitar?" Alex laughed.

"No, shut up" Taka sighed.

"I'll teach you tonight, show up at the rehearsal room an hour early" Alex responded.

"Can't you just teach me now?" Taka asked.

"I'm going to actually teach you, not just use it as an excuse to hold your hand" Alex sighed, "I'll find you a nice practice book, and you can learn without relying on me to guide you. I'll just correct you whenever you fuck up"

"Fine, are you leaving now?" Taka asked as he glared at Alex.

"I was going to tell you something good, but since you are so rude, I don't think I'll tell you" Alex laughed. "See you tomorrow Takeru"

"You're not coming back here tomorrow" Taka yelled out as he followed Alex to the door.

"Fine I won't" Alex laughed as Taka slammed the foor on him.

"I'm going to murder him one of these days" Taka sighed as he laid down on the couch.

"He's not all that horrible" Takeru shrugged.

"Then hang out with him alone rather than at my apartment" Taka responded, "also don't tell him anything about Toru. He's probably running over to Toru's dorm room right now to gossip about me"

"What's there to tell about Toru?" Takeru laughed.

"Nothing" Taka responded.

"Then why do you care if Alex tells Toru about our conversations?" Takeru asked, looking over at Taka.

"Stop asking me questions" Taka got up to get himself a beer and then sat back down in front of Takeru.

"Just answer one more question honestly" Takeru said quietly as he looked at Taka, "do you like Toru?"

"No" Taka groaned.

"I said answer it honestly" Takeru laughed.

Taka continued drinking his beer, not entirely sure if he was answering it honestly.

"I can't do it again" Taka responded as he began tearing up. "It stung like a bitch getting rejected by him the first time, I can't do that again"

Takeru sighed as he looked down at Taka and reached out to rub his shoulder, "you'll get past this"

"Can you leave me alone now?" Taka sighed, "I'm gonna go back to bed"

"Yea, see you tomorrow" Takeru responded.

Taka finished his beer and went into his bedroom. He glanced at the clock and set an alarm, just in case he accidentally fell asleep. He wasn't really tired, he just wanted to be alone with his thoughts.

* * *

 

"You started playing yesterday and haven't even figured out your fingers go between the frets not on them?" Alex sighed as he tried to teach Taka guitar, "that should have taken you 5 seconds" 

"We're not going to get anywhere if you yell at me so much every time I mess up" Taka sighed. "Is this correct?"

"No. Look at the diagram, and replicate it" Alex sighed. "This isn't goddamn rocket science" 

"Stop getting so mad at me" Taka yelled back as he tried replicating the diagram. 

"If you want someone to just play with your hands seductively and kiss you when you fuck up, call Toru. If you want to play guitar, you're going to have to actually learn from your mistakes" Alex sighed. "Try again, your index finger should be on the first fret" 

"You just told me not to put my fingers on the frets..." Taka responded. 

"You know what I fucking mean" Alex sighed as he watched Taka fix his mistake. "Yes, like that. Finally. You've managed to play C once after 10 minutes" Alex sighed. "Play G next" 

"I don't think I know G..." Taka responded. 

"That's why I brought you the fucking book, so you could learn G" Alex sighed as he pointed to the page. 

"No need to be so rude about it" Taka responded as he tried it out before hearing the door open and seeing Toru. 

"What are you guys doing here so early?" Toru asked suspiciously and he sat between Taka and Alex. 

"I'm teaching this idiot to play guitar" Alex sighed. "Apparently our rhythm guitarist can't teach for shit"

"Is this G?" Taka asked Toru. 

"No, your index finger should be-" Alex slapped Toru's hand away before he could even reposition Taka's fingers. 

"He's an idiot, but you can't teach him guitar by babying him" Alex sighed. "if you wanna just play with his fingers for the next hour, do it without using the guitar as an excuse. If you want to help him play guitar for the next hour, stop playing with his fingers" 

Taka and Toru both stared at Alex after that outburst. 

"Your index finger should be on the next fret up, same string" Toru said as he watched Taka move his finger up. "Your middle one was correct originally, move it back down" 

"Like... this?" Taka asked as he strummed the guitar.

"your middle finger isn't arched enough, it's muting the B string, here-" Toru started before Alex slapped his hand away again. "Just arch it more" 

"My finger doesn't bend that way" Taka laughed as he tried to arch it more. 

Alex leaned over to bend Taka's finger. 

"Ah, so only you're allowed to play with Taka's fingers" Toru laughed. 

"No, his finger just isn't used to stretching like that. _I'm_ doing it because if he thinks _you're_ gonna do it for him everytime, he'll never learn to do it on his own" Alex sighed. "you two really are dumb, aren't you?"

"What does that mean?" Toru asked. 

"I mean, I know Taka's book dumb-"

"No I'm not" Taka protested. 

"Your parents had to fucking bribe Keio to get you in, don't bother protesting. I thought you were at least smart in other ways. I thought both of you were smarter than this" Alex sighed. 

"Once again, what does that even mean?" Toru sighed. 

"I don't know, figure it out for yourselves" Alex said as he left the two men on their own. 

Taka and Toru sat around in awkward silence for a few minutes before Taka decided to try the G chord again. 

“Your finger still isn't arched enough, hear how it kinda sounds off?” Toru pointed out as he watched Taka struggle to bend his finger again. 

“Your fingers will get stronger with practice, and I'm really not just playing with your fingers-”

“What if I want you to play with my fingers?” Taka asked, his eyes moving up and down between Toru's eyes and his lips. 

“Then put the guitar down and ask me to” Toru responded as he watched Taka put the guitar down. 

“Will you play with my fingers?” Taka asked. 

Toru swallowed hard as he looked down at Taka's lips before pressing against them with his own. Toru slid his tongue between Taka's lips and began exploring Taka's mouth, tongues swirling together. 

Taka broke away for oxygen after a few minutes, panting heavily. He rested his forehead against Toru's and smiled, “are we gonna play guitar for or just kiss?”

Toru laughed in response to that before leaning in for another kiss.

Both of them had completely lost track of time before they heard a knock on the door. 

“I'm coming in” Alex announced as he got out his own guitar. “How's the guitar going? Have you figured out G yet?”

Taka grabbed the guitar again and attempted to put his fingers in the right place. 

Alex sighed as he looked at Toru, “you can't teach him G in 30 minutes?”

“I don't think I'm a good teacher…” Toru admitted. 

“I'm showing up to your apartment at 10am tomorrow to teach you” Alex sighed as he looked at Taka. 

“I thought I told you not to come over tomorrow?” Taka responded. 

“I was still going to show up anyway” Alex laughed before hearing Ryota and Tomo enter the studio.

* * *

 

Toru followed Taka home after rehearsal as usual. Toru wasn't sure if he should hold Taka's hand on the way home and opted to just follow a few steps behind as usual. 

They arrived at Taka's apartment and Taka let him in and then began speaking, “Why do you always follow me home? It's kinda creepy hearing someone's footsteps stalking me around Shibuya”

Toru looked shock as he watched Taka get a beer for them both and began making ramen. 

“Sorry, did you not want to follow you home?” Toru asked. 

“I phrased that wrong” Taka admitted, “why do you literally follow me? It's creepy. Walk beside me or something”

“I can do that next time” Toru responded. 

Taka nodded in acknowledgement as he put the ramen on the stove and sat next to Toru. They sat in awkward silence as they slurped their ramen. Toru finished first and went to go sit on the couch and browsed through magazines as he waited for Taka to be finished. 

Taka walked over a few minutes later and sat next to Toru. 

“We should go out for dinner tomorrow” Toru said as he watched Taka go through magazines as well. 

“Do you not like my ramen?” Taka responded, laughing at Toru. 

“I love your ramen, what I meant was, we should go out for dinner before rehearsal” Toru explained. 

“Like a date?” Taka asked. 

“Yea. If you want to” Toru answered. 

“Depends. Are you going to run off afterwards yelling that you're not gay?” Taka asked, looking at Toru, “because I really don't want to get over you again”

“I promise I won't” Toru laughed. 

“Let's go to the new ramen place then” Taka responded. 

“Deal” Toru replied before leaning in to kiss Taka again. 

“were we going to write that song tonight or just kiss?” Taka laughed as he rested his forehead against Toru's. 

“Either kiss or sleep. I'm tired” Toru admitted before kissing Taka again. 

“I'm also kinda tired. Are you sleeping on the couch or…” Taka trailed off, slightly too embarrassed to ask Toru to sleep in his bed. 

“Are you inviting me to sleep in your bed?” Toru laughed. 

“If you wanted to, yea” Taka admitted. 

Toru got up and followed Taka to the bedroom and laid in bed underneath the covers beside Taka. 

“do you like cuddling?” Taka asked as he rolled over to face Toru. 

“Would it be weird if I said I've never actually cuddled with anyone before?” Toru asked with an embarrassed look on his face. 

“Have you never had a girlfriend before?” Taka asked Toru. 

“Not really anyone serious, no” Toru admitted. 

Taka laid on his back and invited Toru to sleep on his chest. Toru did as he was told before Taka began coughing, “fuck. You're heavier than I assumed. Lay on your back, I don't want my ribs to break in the night” 

Toru laughed in response and rolled over on his back as Taka rested his head on Toru's chest and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think it's canon that Taka's parents bribed Keio in any way... but... that shit's commonplace in America for wealthy parents to bribe schools on behalf of their children. Also I was probably watching coverage of the American college admissions scandal while writing this, so heh, Alex's line may be inspired.   
> ANYWAY. They've finally acknowledged feelings for each other ahhhhhhhh.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toru can't figure out where he stands with Taka. Taka can't stop saying awkward things about sex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh sorry it's been a few days. Also sorry that last update was rather shitty. I wanted to leave them getting together longer, then my dog got sick and I figured if I ditched the internet no one would be left hanging.   
> BUT ANYWAY. My dog is doing better, story is continuing as normal, just gonna cut out some of the excess "will they or won't they" and get on with the (probably) final two plot points. Unless some other brilliant plots come to mind as I write, who knows.

“Good morning Taka!” Alex yelled as he entered the large apartment. He expected to find Taka and probably Toru in the main area, probably be cursed out for not knocking. The apartment was seemingly empty with no sign of Taka. Alex took off his shoes and noticed Toru's shoes were in the genkan and laughed to himself upon realisation what was happening. He walked into the main area and sat on the couch, waiting for Toru and Taka to wake up. 

“Fuck” Toru hissed as he woke up at the sound of Alex in the apartment. Taka was still peacefully sleeping on his chest and Toru's arm was painfully numb. 

Taka groaned, and murmured something of a death threat as Toru tried to wake him up. 

“Alex is here” Toru said gently as he rubbed Taka's back. 

“What the fuck” Taka jolted up, out of bed at that and left the bedroom. He tried to think of a plan to get Alex out of the apartment, or at least a plan to sneak Toru out of his bedroom without having to admit to Alex they were sharing a bed. 

Alex looked at Taka, stumbling tired out of his bedroom and snickered to himself. “Good morning Taka”

“Fuck off” Taka groaned as he sat on the couch and continued thinking of his plan to get Alex out of here. “Why are you here?”

“I told you I'd be here at 10 to teach you guitar, but if I'm interrupting your time with Toru I can leave” Alex snickered as Taka gave him a death glare. 

“Toru's not even here” Taka responded as he got out the guitar and began playing. 

Alex laughed in response, but decided to go along with Taka's lie and begin the lesson anyway. 

“Why are you laughing?” Taka groaned, staring at Alex. 

“Nothing, you're just not a very good liar” Alex continued to laugh. “Also you're horrible at covering up evidence. Such as Toru's shoes in the front hall”

Taka sighed as he glared at Alex without responding. He knew there was no feasible lie to get out of this situation, and opted to just ignore it. 

“He's in your bedroom, isn't he?” Alex laughed hysterically before Taka kicked his shin. 

“Are you here to teach me guitar or can you just leave?” Taka groaned as he continued playing guitar. 

Alex sighed as he decided Taka wasn't in a mood to be teased and decided to just teach him guitar. He was also curious how long Toru could remain mostly undetected in the bedroom. 

Toru was still laying in Taka's bed, listening to the conversation about whether or not he was still in the bedroom. He figured Alex probably knew something, Alex was always teasing Toru about Taka, but he wasn't sure if Alex was doing the same to Taka. He looked at the time on Taka's alarm clock and decided to try to stay here for an hour. Maybe by then Alex will forget about the fact that Taka also emerged from the bedroom. 

He sighed quietly as he rolled over in Taka's large bed, and decided to just go back to sleep. The bed smelt like Taka, and Toru opted to hug Taka's pillow as he tried to go back to sleep. Toru heard the sounds of guitar playing, and Taka cursing everytime he messed up. He heard Taka go on a very long rant about murdering Alex if he continued criticising Taka's playing skills and decided this would be a good time to emerge. Partly because he was bored mindless waiting for the lead guitarist to leave, partly because he wanted to make sure Taka wouldn't actually murder him. 

Toru tried to quietly open the bedroom door, and peered across the room to the genkan. He didn't think Alex had noticed him leaving. He managed to get all the way to the genkan before Alex suddenly began talking.

“You're not very good at sneaking out” 

Toru immediately turned around and realised he had been caught out. He watched as Alex die laughing and Taka's cheeks turned bright red as he pretended to be focused on the guitar. 

Toru sat down on the couch next to Taka and tried his best to ignore Alex's smirking face. 

Taka sighed before deciding to just play guitar and ignore Alex. 

The silence was broken as Takeru entered the room and greeted them all. 

Taka watched as he sat down on the coffee table beside Alex and Toru automatically got up. He grabbed Toru's sweater, trying to prevent him from leaving. “Don't leave”

Toru turned around and looked at Taka's pleading eyes, then over to the coffee table. Alex was trying his best not to laugh knowingly, and Takeru was glaring at Taka. Toru opted to sit back down next to Taka as silence fell over the room again. 

Well. Silence until Alex began laughing hysterically. He was hunched over, dying of laughter at the realisation that Taka and Toru were indeed sleeping together.

Taka sighed as he glared at Alex, “spit it out. What's so funny?”

“You two sleeping together” Alex choked out before laughing even harder. 

Toru groaned at that, hiding his head in a pillow. 

Takeru raised his eyebrows at Taka, who was trying his absolute best to not have any kind of conversation with his judgemental best friend. 

“Are you done laughing or can we get this guitar lesson going?”

Alex tried to stop laughing, was successful for a few seconds, then burst out laughing again. 

“You shouldn't do this shit to Taka” Takeru sighed, looking straight at Toru. 

Toru looked up with his ever bored eyes, unsure if Takeru had ever really acknowledged his existence other than to kick him out. “What am I doing to Taka?” 

“He likes you, you insufferable idiot. And you're taking advantage of that” Takeru sighed before turning his gaze to Taka, “and  _ you _ know Toru isn't gay and let him trample all over you. Cooking for him, letting him stay here, and  _ sleeping _ with him?”

Taka sighed as he put down the guitar and curled his legs in front of him. He could murder Alex for stating it like that. He could have gone with “share a bed” or “sleep in the same room” but no, he had to use a synonym for sex. 

“What Alex  _ meant _ to say, is we sleep in the same bed” Taka glared at Alex, who was now laughing even harder at the confirmation. 

“Well obviously he meant that” Takeru spat back, “Toru's not gay. He's not gonna have sex with you” 

Taka sat back at that, cursing himself for assuming that's what Takeru would have assumed. He looked over at Toru, who was back to burying his head in a pillow. Taka sighed before looking back at Takeru, “Why do you even care who sleeps in my bed? You're just pissed because it's not you”

Takeru stiffened up at that. He was completely unaware Taka knew of his lifelong crush. 

“That was a bit harsh, Taka” Toru said softly as he looked over at the fuming vocalist. 

“I don't care. I'm just looking out for your incredibly dumb self” Takeru sighed as he got up. “Anyway, I have a date tonight, so. I should probably go get ready for that”

“I'm sorry” Taka mumbled out as he got up to hug Takeru before he left. 

“It's fine, Taka. Just don't do anything dumb to end up with your heart broken, again” Takeru sighed as he ruffled Taka's hair before leaving. 

Taka walked back to the couch and sat down next to Toru and immediately cuddled up next to him and placed his legs over Toru's. Toru instinctively hugged Taka back before realising Alex was still in the room, staring at them. 

“Did you guys write that song last night?” 

“No…” Toru admitted. 

“And you also didn't teach this idiot G last night, did you?” 

“No…” Toru admitted. 

“Then what did you do?” Alex laughed as he looked between their guilty faces. 

“We were tired and went to bed” Taka responded. 

“And that's all?” Alex laughed. 

“Yes” Taka answered. 

Alex continued laughing, “if you say so”

Taka sighed and rested his head on Toru's chest, before suddenly realising he was still cuddling with Toru. He detangled himself from Toru and sat up and got the guitar again. 

“I think that's enough teaching from me today. I have a date tonight” Alex announced, “I should probably go get ready for that” 

Taka looked at Alex confused, “didn't you get dumped yesterday?”

“Yes. Must you remind me?” Alex sighed as he got up and left. 

“Don't stay up too late tonight! We have a live tomorrow, remember?” Toru shouted out before Alex left the apartment. 

Taka looked at Toru, “so what are we doing today? We have no rehearsal tonight…” 

“Wanna go take a walk?” 

Taka stared at Toru for a few seconds, that wasn't quite what the answer he was expecting, but decided to go for it anyway. 

* * *

 

Taka and Toru walked around the busy streets of Shibuya before eventually reaching a random park. Taka was huffing and out of breath as Toru teased him for being out of shape. They sat down in front of a tree as Taka complained Toru was walking too fast. 

“I'm not walking too fast, your legs are too short”

Taka shoved Toru to the ground for making fun of his height before Toru shoved him to the ground as well. They both laughed for a few minutes before deciding to get up and headed to the ramen place for a late lunch. 

They got seated before Taka realised, “weren't we gonna go here for dinner tonight?”

Toru laughed in response, “this is… an early dinner?” 

“But I haven't even had breakfast yet” Taka groaned before ordering. 

They left the restaurant and realised how rainy it was. Taka whined loudly about how he didn't want to get sick before the live. 

Toru laughed as he watched Taka whine about how far away his apartment is, and decided to just offer to go to his dorm room. It was slightly closer than Taka's apartment. 

Taka nodded as he followed Toru to his dorm room. They both ran quickly to avoid being in the rain for too long. 

* * *

They reached the dorms and Taka followed Toru in. Toru lead him to underneath a staircase and kissed Taka deeply.

“Someone's gonna see us” Taka laughed between kisses. 

“No one's gonna find us in the staircase” Toru laughed before continuing to kiss Taka. 

Taka gave up protesting Toru and decided to just go with kissing in this empty stairwell. Toru had him pushed against a wall, so even if he wanted to protest this, Toru would definitely overpower him. Taka felt a bulge forming in his pants and felt one forming through Toru's jeans as well. He felt Toru pressing their hips together as Taka instinctively pressed his hips against Toru's, feeling even more turned on. And then he remembered they're still in a random stairwell. 

“Shouldn't we take this to your bedroom?” Taka asked breathlessly, resting his forehead against Toru's. Toru seemed to pull away as soon as Taka mentioned going to Toru's bedroom. He replayed the phrase in his head and realised that could probably be taken as an invitation for sex. Then he cursed himself for bringing up sex, again, to Toru. 

“I should probably tell you something before we go to my room…” Toru trailed off awkwardly. 

“I know. You're a virgin, I wasn't suggesting we have sex” Taka responded, although judging by Toru cocking his head, he guessed that isn't why Toru pulled away. 

“I was  _ going _ to say, I didn't know if Ryota was home. And didn't really wanna, y'know, makeout with you if he's in the room” 

Taka felt himself die of humiliation at that revelation. Of course Toru wasn't assuming sex, Toru wasn't nearly as perverted as Taka is. “Pretend I never said that…”

Toru laughed as he walked up the staircase to his dorm room on the 3rd floor. Ryota and Tomoya were both in the room. 

“What's he doing here? This dorm room's only for people signed with Amuse” Ryota sighed as he watched Taka enter the room. 

Taka immediately froze at that, no one had told him he wasn't actually meant to be there. “I can leave”

Toru sighed as he looked at Ryota, “I wasn't aware Tomo had anything to do with Amuse either”

Tomo looked around confused, “I'm not meant to be here?”

“It's fine” Toru huffed, “just don't complain about Taka being here, and I won't complain about Tomo being here”

Ryota glared at Toru as he went through his dresser. 

“There's a shower down the hall, here's a change of clothes” Toru said as he handed Taka fresh clothes. 

“It's fine, I don't need to change” Taka responded, nervously aware Ryota and Tomo were staring at him. 

Toru sighed as he glared at Taka, “you're here because it's raining outside and you didn't want to get sick. Your clothes are soaking wet, just go take a shower and come back” 

Taka nodded and headed down the hallway and found the shower room. 

Toru also got changed and laid on his bed, ignoring the dirty glares he was getting from Ryota. 

“Why's he here?” 

Toru sighed as he turned to face Ryota, “because it's raining outside and he didn't want to get sick running all the way to his own apartment”

Ryota nodded in an knowing way, “sure that's why” 

Toru huffed some more at Ryota's sarcasm and turned his backs to his two bandmates. He knew as a leader, he should probably try a bit harder to bond Taka with the others, but right now he didn't want to have to deal with Ryota's questioning. Especially not with Tomo in the room, it was bad enough that he had Alex and Ryota questioning him all the time, he did not want all three of them to gang up. He wasn't even entirely sure what was going on with him and Taka. Taka had brought up sex twice today, surely that meant that Taka was… serious? He even said yes to the date.

Taka walked back into the room and awkwardly stood in the doorway, unsure where to sit. It was a standard dorm room. Two desks, two beds, two dressers. Ryota's bed was taken up by Tomo, as well Ryota was clearly unhappy with Taka's presence. Toru's bed was taken up by him laying down, so Taka decided to just stand there, leaning against the closed door and holding his wet clothing. 

Toru sat up and patted the space on the bed next to him, motioning Taka to sit beside him. Taka placed his clothing on the bed and then sat beside Toru, trying his best to not meet the glares of his bandmates. He fiddled with his fingers awkwardly, trying to think of something to say. He wanted to be nice to them, show them that he wasn't quite as scary as they thought he was. But he was just sat there in total awkwardness, partly distracted by the number of times he embarrassed himself in front of Toru today, and partly nervous energy for their performance the next night. 

“How long is he staying here for?” Ryota broke the awkward silence in the room. 

“As long as he wants” Toru responded, glaring at Ryota. 

“I can go now” Taka offered. 

“Thank you” Ryota smiled. 

“It's my room as much as it is yours, Ryota” Toru growled as he stared at his friend, “stop rushing my friends out of the room”

“We should do a fun band activity tomorrow” Taka said out loud, causing everyone to stare at him.

“We have a live tomorrow, you fucking idiot” Ryota groaned as he looked at Taka. 

Taka went quiet at that, he was trying to give an olive branch of some sort to those two, but if Ryota didn't want it then fuck him.

“Are you making us ramen after the live, Taka?” Tomo asked. 

Taka looked up at Tomo, “yea. I can do that”. He watched as Ryota gave a death glare to Tomo, who mumbled something about liking ramen. He looked outside the small window in the dystopian dorm room and noticed the rain had ended. “I think I'm gonna go home now…”

Toru automatically got up to walk Taka home and gave Ryota a glare before following Taka into the night.

* * *

 

The next day Alex showed up for a sound check before their second live. He was the last one there and Toru looked like he could murder Alex for being a few minutes late. 

“Am I at strike 5?” Alex sighed as he looked at Toru looking at his watch and getting out his notebook. 

“Apparently you're only 4 minutes late” Toru sighed as he put away his notebook. 

“Sound check isn't for another 30 minutes, why are we even here so early?” Alex groaned. 

“I'm sorry, did you have somewhere better to be?” Toru huffed as he glared at Alex. 

“Yes, actually. I could have been having a nice day in  _ bed _ with my new girlfriend, but instead I'm here with you idiots” 

Ryota whipped his head around at that, “you already have a new girlfriend?” 

“And you're already going to bed with her?” Tomo added, looking around confused. 

“Are you sure she's even your girlfriend after one date?” Taka laughed in response. 

Toru stared at Taka, was he sure Taka was his boyfriend? They had barely gone on a date, unless their walk in the park ramen dinner counted as a date. 

“Well we had sex, so I assume so” Alex laughed as he watched the colour drain from three of their faces.

“So you probably just had a one night stand?” Taka chuckled. 

Toru felt his head hurt at this conversation, wondering what was happening between Taka and him. “Enough. We have to do sound check” 

The band did a sound check and then Taka and Toru were left on their own as everyone else got dinner. Toru laid on the couch, thoughts swirling in his head about Taka telling Alex he had just had a one night stand. Taka walked over to the couch Toru was laying on and laid on top of him. Toru couldn't decide between shoving him off in case the other members came back from dinner early or having a talk with Taka about their relationship. 

He looked down and noticed Taka had fallen asleep, face nuzzled on Toru's chest. Toru smiled and decided to rub Taka's back underneath his shirt and let him sleep. He decided now wasn't a good time to have the relationship talk anyway. If it didn't go how Toru was hoping it would go, surely it would throw off their performance. 

Alex came bursting into the room, and Toru cursed him for walking in on them like this. Alex just looked at them and let out a giggle as Taka began to slowly wake. Taka looked up and realised Alex was now there, and practically jumped off of Toru and onto the floor. 

Alex laughed to himself before he began speaking, “relax would you. I already know you two sleep together. The other two oblivious idiots aren't with me”

“Then why are you laughing at it?” Taka groaned as he stared at Alex for explanation. 

“Doesn't stop your relationship from being bizarrely hilarious” Alex continued laughing. 

Toru groaned at Alex's teasing, before realising Taka wasn't giving any moody pushback at calling it a relationship. 

“Where are the other two?” Taka asked, still not giving any kind of denial to a relationship. 

“Getting dinner or something. I don't know. I went to go see my date from last night, and congrats Taka you're right. One night stand” Alex sighed as he sat beside Taka. 

“I'm sure you'll find someone new for tomorrow” Taka laughed as he looked at Alex. 

“Was that meant to be comforting?” Alex laughed in response. 

“Yes” Taka laughed hysterically, “she was like a rebound, right? Just find another person to sleep with”

Alex glared at Taka, “I'm not taking relationship advice from a manwhore” 

Toru gazed down at the two of them, talking about sex as if it was a casual thing, debating back and forth between who the manwhore was. All of this manwhore and casual sex talk was making his stomach churn before Ryota and Tomo got back from dinner and sat around the dressing room. 

“The place is packed!” Tomo informed them, giddy with emotion that people were actually going to see them play. 

“Don't remind me, I'm nervous enough as it is” Ryota whined as he clutched his knees to his chest. 

“Didn't I already tell you to go dance or some shit last time?” Taka groaned as he stared at Ryota. 

“Because you want me to break my arm?” Ryota sighed as he looked at Toru to hopefully back him up. 

Toru, however, was a bit busy still going over the past two days he's had with Taka. He barely even noticed Ryota was walking over to him and waving a head in front of his face. 

“What?” Toru spat out, shocking everyone in the room. 

“What did you to him?” Ryota glared at Taka with an accusatory tone. 

“I didn't do anything! I've just been sitting here. He was probably sleeping or something” Taka defended himself in a raised voice. 

“Enough!” Toru yelled as he looked between Taka and Ryota fighting. “Can you two just fucking get along for once? I swear, your fighting is getting worse these days”

Both of them retreated their fight as they realised Alex and Tomo were also staring at them. 

Taka mumbled something of an apology, as did Ryota before Toru got up. “Time to go to the stage, don't fucking fight with each other up there”

* * *

Taka was bubbling like a ball of energy as all five of them walked back to his apartment. He made them ramen as Alex raided his fridge for alcohol.

Toru sat beside Ryota, in hopes of talking to him about getting along with Taka before Alex's phone went off loudly. 

He went into Taka's bedroom for a few minutes to talk privately before Taka poured them all ramen. 

“Sorry to leave you losers, but, booty calls” Alex laughed as he emerged from Taka's bedroom and bid them farewell. 

“What does that even mean?” Toru asked, looking around confused before Taka began laughing. 

“He's ditching us to have sex” Taka informed him as everyone stared at him. “Have you three really never heard of a booty call?”

“No, because none of us are manwhores” Ryota responded with a sarcastic tone. He felt Toru stomp on his foot in response but didn't make any attempt to apologise. 

“Would it kill the pair of you to get along for once?” Toru groaned as he held his head in his hands. Everyone else stared at him before eating their ramen silently. 

“I should go, actually. I have a bunch of homework to do before school starts again tomorrow” Tomo said casually, before getting up and cleaning his dish. “Thanks for the ramen, Taka”

Taka just grunted in response, still in a bad mood from Ryota's comments towards him. Tomo ran out the apartment after that, leaving Ryota and Toru alone with him. 

“Are you coming home tonight or staying with your boyfriend again?” Ryota groaned as he looked at Toru. 

Toru thought about slapping Ryota for that comment, but looked over at Taka who just looked irritated and nervous. Toru thought about getting up to comfort Taka, but looked over at Ryota who appeared to want an answer. 

“I'll go to the dorm tonight” Toru responded. 

Taka whipped his head up at that. He assumed Toru would want to stay over here tonight, like he always did. They had just started sharing a bed and now Toru wanted to go back to his own tiny bed in the dorm room. He looked over at Ryota, who appeared to be gloating as if he had won something. 

Toru got up to clean all three of their dishes as Taka sat at the table, still dumbfounded that Toru wouldn't want to stay the night with him. He sat there, worried he had freaked Toru out with his accidental sex comments yesterday before his thoughts were interrupted by Ryota. 

“Are you coming already?” 

Toru looked at Taka nervously, then back to Ryota. “Can you wait outside for a few minutes?”

Ryota groaned as he exited Taka's apartment, “you better not leave me waiting all night”

Toru sighed as he walked over to Taka, who stood up instinctively. 

“I'll see you tomorrow, yea?” Taka said as he hugged Toru tightly. 

“School starts up again tomorrow. I'll drop by your place afterwards though” Toru responded before kissing Taka. “We should probably talk tomorrow” 

Taka looked terrified at that, but kissed Toru again before he left the apartment. Taka debated going straight to bed, but decided to just stay up even later tonight. If he had to be alone until after Toru's school finished the next day, he would at least try to sleep in through some of the void. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realised after publishing that last chapter, when the hell do those 4 actually go to classes. So uh, pretend the last few bits were some kind of summer vacation lol. Also expect more TOMO! Because he wasn't in my first draft, on account of he wasn't an original member, I neglected him in my plots. It wasn't until I began posting that I realised they were trying to find a vocalist, all while I forgot to include their original drummer. Then I figured, fuck it Tomo was there all along I'll throw in a few random lines by him... but now that I'm caught up to where I realised that, he'll randomly appear in more scenes.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taka and Toru have a ~talk~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so, few editorial notes re: timeline.   
> It is currently meant to be around September 2005. However, I did not realise until today that the Japanese school system has a different way of grouping grades meaning Alex and Tomo should both be graduated (I think?) Actually when I wrote that last chapter I forgot that Tomo wouldn't be in high school anyway because he's 18 in this oops...  
> Anyway, pretend this is all the Western style of education. School years start in September and are grouped according to birth year rather than that... April-March stuff going on in Japan apparently. And I'll just make Tomo graduated because that might work nicely into my other story arc, but Alex is still in school because otherwise parts of this fic won't work out as nicely...

Toru was standing around his locker with Ryota he next morning before classes started. They were having a vague discussion about how the performance went the previous night when Alex walked up to them. 

“Have a nice night last night?” Toru said through laughs as he looked at the hickeys on Alex's neck. 

Alex glared at Toru suspiciously, “why are you laughing?” 

“You ditched us to have sex” Ryota laughed while signalling the hickeys on his neck. 

Alex sighed heavily while glaring at them both laughing, “doesn't Toru ditch you every night for sex?” 

Toru stiffened up and crossed his arms awkwardly, mentally cursing Alex for existing. “No” 

“Right. You just ditch Ryota to sleep with Taka” Alex laughed. 

“Holy fuck Alex, do you really need to keep phrasing it like that?” Toru groaned as he glared at Alex. 

Alex laughed before responding, “what's wrong with my phrasing? You sleep with Taka, right? Unless you're claiming you spend all night in his bedroom  _ without _ sleeping”

Ryota laughed before Toru gave him a death glare, “sometimes I sleep in his bed. It's really not a big deal. Friends share beds all the time”

“Sure they do” Alex laughed as he patted Toru's shoulder before going to class. 

“You share a bed with Taka?” Ryota asked as soon as Alex left. 

Toru sighed before glaring at Ryota, “it's a big bed. We literally sleep” 

“So you don't have… sex with him?” Ryota asked awkwardly. 

“Obviously not. Neither of us are gay” Toru snapped, knowing part of that was probably a lie. “Alex just can't stop teasing me about the date years ago, so just drop it, okay?” 

Ryota smiled and nodded, knowing that Alex was relentless in his teasing about everything. It did make sense that Alex would latch on to one thing and go wild with his imagination. 

* * *

Toru was hoping to avoid his friends the entire rest of the day. He made his way to the school roof to eat lunch in silence, but much to his dismay Alex was already there. Toru thought about turning back around, but Alex was already calling his name. He groaned as he walked over to where Alex was and sat down next to him.

“Why are you even up here?” Toru asked.

Alex smirked, “I was having sex”

Toru groaned at that revelation, why is Alex always talking about having sex, “why would you have sex on a school roof?”

Alex laughed before responding, “because not everyone has a boyfriend with a nice empty apartment and no parents to interrupt at our age”

Toru glared at Alex, not sure which part of that insinuation to take offence at first. He wasn't even sure if Taka was his boyfriend, but Alex was happy to assume he was. 

“Stop trying to pretend you're not in a relationship with Taka, as if I haven't been walking in on you two cuddling multiple times the past few days” Alex laughed. 

“I'm not in a relationship with Taka” Toru groaned loudly. 

“Sure you're not” Alex responding, still laughing. 

Toru glared at Alex again, “what do you know?”

“That you two share a bed and he hangs off you like a monkey?” Alex answered.

“And so you know everything” Toru responded, feeling relieved that Alex didn't have anything concrete. 

“Oh, also that you two were kissing while I left you to teach him guitar the other day” Alex added.

Toru groaned loudly, “don't tell anyone you saw that” 

“Actually, I didn't. That was a well educated guess, but thank you for confirming” Alex said as he began laughing again and Toru sighed. 

“I'm going to shove you off this roof if you ever bring this up again” Toru groaned, “especially in front of other people, what the fuck was this morning?”

Alex laughed as he remembered making jokes about Toru ditching them for sex, “but he's your boyfriend, right? You want to have sex with him?” 

Toru groaned as he stared at Alex, really not sure how to respond to that. 

“You can tell me things, I tell you every time I have sex, right?” Alex laughed. 

“I'd really prefer it if you _didn't_ tell me every time you have sex” Toru responded. 

“I'll stop telling you about my sex life if you confirm your relationship status” Alex offered with a laugh. 

Toru groaned before staring at Alex, “I don't know”

Alex laughed before responding, “so you know that girl in the year below us, Kimmy? We had se-” 

“I meant I don't know my relationship status” Toru blurted out, not wanting to hear any of this story. 

“Oh. Have you tried asking?” Alex responded. 

“Not yet, I'm gonna ask tonight” Toru answered.

* * *

Taka was sat around his house all day, bored as hell. He had tried to sleep in late, but accidentally woke up around noon and now couldn't fall back asleep. He made ramen, on account of that was the only meal he knew how to cook. Taka debated learning to cook more, that may be an easy way to get Tomo to like him, and if Tomo likes him, maybe Ryota will get dragged in too. 

But first, Taka had much more important things to do. Such as stare at the clock and wonder when Toru would finally show up at his door. Ready to talk about whatever the hell was happening between them. Taka wasn't even sure what time Toru's school got out, it was about 3pm right now. Surely it had to end soon? Taka felt himself being driven insane alone in his apartment, staring at the clock and wondering what Toru was thinking of their situation. Taka groaned as he debated texting Toru to find out when he'd be there, but Taka didn't want Toru to think he had been sat around all goddamn day, thinking about Toru. Even if that's precisely what he's been doing. Taka let out a loud scream into his pillow, mostly in frustration because he didn't quite understand his feelings towards Toru. 

“What the hell Taka” Toru called out from the genkan as he entered Taka's apartment and heard the sounds of Taka screaming. 

Taka shot up off the couch and hugged Toru, glad to finally have human contact. Or, more specifically, Toru's contact. “I missed you” 

Toru laughed as he hugged Taka back, “I saw you last night” 

“Oh. Right. It felt like forever though” Taka responded, mentally cursing himself for being such a clingy boyfriend. If he was even a boyfriend. 

“What did you do all day?” Toru asked, looking at Taka. 

Taka gulped. Definitely didn't stare at a clock all day. “I made ramen. I think I need to learn to cook more types of food” 

Toru laughed before getting beer and sitting on the couch. Taka also got a beer for himself and got comfortable on top of Toru. They laughed about random things while drinking their beer. 

Taka finished his first and placed it on the coffee table and cuddled against Toru while he finished his. Toru got up to throw out the bottles before laying down next to Taka. 

“I missed you in my bed last night” Taka admitted as he looked at Toru. 

Toru felt himself smiling in response to that, he leaned over to kiss Taka, inadvertently pinning him onto his back. One thing was leading to another and Toru opted to take off Taka's shirt. He wasn't sure where this was going to end up, but Taka suddenly stopped kissing him and Toru instinctively pulled away, unsure what he was doing wrong. 

“Wait, Toru… We should-”

Taka was cut off by the sound of Alex greeting them as he entered the apartment. Taka wanted to shove Toru off him, but was frozen in shock as Alex walked into the room and saw them on the couch. 

“what the fuck are you doing here?” Taka snapped at Alex, who was now laughing as he got himself a beer. Taka shoved Toru off of him, wondering where that sudden strength came from. Toru retreated and sat on the opposite side of the couch, burying his head in a pillow. 

Alex sat in front of them on the coffee table, still snickering at the very compromising position he had caught them in. 

“Why are you here?” Taka spat out again, glaring at Alex. 

“I'm sorry, was I interrupting something?” Alex laughed as he looked between them, “you know, I should really teach you something, Toru-”

“I don't need your fucking advice” Toru groaned as he looked up from the pillow he was hiding in. 

“Well it does seem you don't need my  _ fucking _ advice, you were already halfway there” Alex laughed as Toru and Taka both groaned loudly in response. “But here's a better piece of advice, only have sex when the front door is locked” 

“Yes, ok, got it. Can you leave now?” Taka groaned as he stared at Alex. 

“No, I need to finish my beer first” Alex smirked, “you two continue whatever it is you do”

Taka sighed loudly and put his shirt back on, “we're not continuing when you're here”

“So you were up to something?” Alex laughed hysterically.

Toru groaned loudly, it was one thing to be cockblocked by Alex, it was even worse for Taka to admit they were doing something. Even if Toru wasn't entirely sure what that something was going to be. 

Taka sighed, “are you here for a purpose or are you just gonna sit there and give us your goddamn advice?”

“I was gonna check on your guitar playing” Alex laughed, “but wait, is the manwhore asking me for sex advice?”

Taka groaned, “No. You've only had sex like once. I don't need your advice”

“Actually, I've done it-” Alex cut himself off when he noticed Toru glaring at him and remembered their earlier pact, “doesn't matter, because apparently you _do_ need my advice, since you haven't quite learned not to have sex when people can just walk in. Hasn't that gotten you into trouble before?” 

Taka sighed as Alex laughed. He did not want to get into any of that with Alex, especially with Toru also there. “Just get out would you” 

Alex laughed as he finished his beer, “fine. Don't be dumb though. Lock your door and use protection!”

Taka groaned before chasing Alex out of the apartment and locking the door behind him. He went back to the couch and laid on the couch with his head on Toru's lap. Toru put his arms around Taka and intertwined their fingers as he looked down at Taka. 

“So what are we doing?” Toru asked as he played with Taka's bushy hair with his free hand. 

“I don't know, you were the one taking off my shirt” Taka responded with a laugh as he looked up at Toru, who didn't seem as amused. 

“Not… that. I meant in general, what are we doing?” Toru rephrased the question. 

Taka looked up at Toru, not sure what the answer was. He shifted his body to be sitting on Toru's lap and rested his head on Toru's shoulder. “I like you”

“I like you too” Toru admitted as he kissed Taka gently, letting one of his hands carelessly stroke Taka's thigh. “But are you my…?” 

“Boyfriend?” Taka suggested, looking at Toru. 

“Yea. Boyfriend” Toru answered. 

“Do you want me to be your boyfriend?” Taka asked. 

“Yes” Toru admitted. 

Taka smiled at Toru before answering, “then what does my boyfriend want for dinner?” 

“Are you making something other than ramen?” Toru laughed. 

“Since I'm bored as hell all day, I may as well try to learn to cook something else” Taka admitted. “So what should we try tonight?” 

“What do you know that isn't ramen?” Toru asked with a laugh, “do you have a cookbook or something?”

Taka tapped his chin thoughtfully, “good point. I should go buy a cookbook. Wanna go with me to buy one?” 

Toru laughed as he got up and followed Taka out the door. 

* * *

Toru and Taka walked around Shibuya before landing at a large bookstore and heading to the cookbook section. Taka browsed, trying to find the one that looked easiest. Toru mostly looked at pictures then demanded Taka cook specific dishes for him. 

“I don't even know how to cook you idiot. That looks too difficult” Taka groaned as he looked at the dish Toru was pointing to. 

“But it looks so good” Toru groaned as he stared at the picture. 

“Learn to cook for yourself then” Taka snapped as he picked up another book. 

“No fair” Toru crossed his arms and pouted while resting his back against the shelves. He looked around the store and saw Ryota and Tomo, and decided to call for them. 

“Hey Toooooruuu” Tomo said in a sing song manner, “are you learning to cook? Can I test your dishes?” 

“No, I'm not learning to cook. Taka's gonna learn to cook” Toru nodded as he watched Taka turn around, holding a book. 

“Can I still test the dishes?” Tomo asked nervously, feeling Ryota's elbow jabbing him. 

“You can test the dishes” Taka responded, getting a strange look from Toru. 

“Tomo can test dishes but I can't?” Toru huffed as he looked down at Taka. 

“I never said you can't test dishes, I just don't want to cook you super complicated dishes” Taka snapped back. “I offered to make you dinner tonight, didn't I?” 

“But it's gonna take so long for you to choose something, then buy groceries, then actually cook it. I don't wanna wait that long for dinner” Toru groaned, looking at Taka. 

“I'm  _ sorry _ , next time I'll read your fucking mind that you're gonna be too hungry to wait for food” Taka sighed. “Go to a restaurant or some shit if you want a super speedy meal” 

“And you're gonna do all that shit before we have to go to rehearsal?” Toru looked at Taka with a judgemental glare. 

“Fine. We'll go to a fucking restaurant tonight” Taka groaned. 

“Good. You can do all that shit tomorrow, and then cook me dinner tomorrow” Toru laughed. 

“Why do you get to order me around?” Taka crossed his arms and pouted as he looked up at Toru. 

“Because I'm your-” Toru cut himself off when he remembered Ryota and Tomoya were still there, “I'm the leader of the band. I get to order you around”

Ryota was just looking at him with an all knowing look, and Tomo just looked scared. 

“Anyway, uh, wanna join us at dinner tonight?” Toru asked awkwardly, looking at his other two bandmates. 

“No, I'm good” Ryota responded before dragging Tomoya away from Taka and Toru. Tomo was mumbling about wanting dinner but Ryota was dragging him by his t-shirt anyway. 

“I'm trying hard to make them like me” Taka sighed as he watched Ryota and Tomo leave. 

“Maybe cut down on the snappiness when they're around? You're scaring Tomo” Toru laughed as he looked down at his fuming boyfriend. “Yes. Looks like that. That's what scares him” 

“That's what my face always looks like” Taka snapped back as he went to go to the checkout with his cookbook. 

* * *

Tomo arrived at the studio early that night and found Alex in the room on his own. 

“Why are you here so early?” Tomo asked casually as he sat down next to Alex on the couch. 

“I just left a  _ friend's _ house” Alex laughed as he looked at the disturbed look on Tomo's face. 

“and was this friend of the female variety?” Tomo asked awkwardly. 

“Of course she was” Alex answered with a sly smile. 

Ryota was the next to arrive and stormed in looking like he could kill someone. 

“Woah, you've got that Taka death glare perfected” Tomo announced as he watched Ryota enter the room. 

Ryota sighed as he sat next to Tomo, “why would you agree to let Taka experiment on you? He's gonna kill you” 

Alex burst out laughing at the revelation, looking at the two other members. “Taka wants to experiment on you?” 

“He offered to cook me food!” Tomo yelled out in response. “He makes good ramen, maybe he makes other things good as well?”

“You're supposed to be on my side of the battle. Put on a united front against Taka” Ryota sighed as he glared at Tomo. 

“And what is the desired outcome of the battle?” Alex asked, giving an inquisitive look at Ryota.

“To get Toru to spend more time with me again. I hardly see him” Royta responded. “Why does he even spend so much time with that scary kid?”

“Didn't he say something about wanting to Taka to feel welcome or whatever in the band?” Tomo answered. 

“But he's been with us for a whole 4 months now” Ryota sighed, “isn't he already welcome enough?”

“Is he though? You were literally just plotting to get him out” Alex looked at Ryota. He knew he really shouldn't offer Ryota any kind of false hope, but maybe Ryota would at the very least stop complaining all the time. “If you be nice to Taka, Taka will feel welcome. If Taka feels welcome, maybe Toru will stop ditching you for him” 

Ryota stared at Alex, thinking this was a good idea. Maybe they could go to karaoke or something. Try to bond over music. If he's a vocalist, surely he must like karaoke. Ryota's thoughts were broken by the sound of the door opening and Taka and Toru walking into the room and greeting them all. 

“The three of us were talking, and we think we should do band karaoke” Ryota announced as Toru got his guitar setup. Tomo and Alex both gave Ryota confused looks. 

Toru put down his guitar and walked over to Ryota and felt his forehead. “Are you sick?” 

“No? We were just thinking, we should do something to bond the band” Ryota responded. 

The other two members nodded awkwardly in the background. 

“Can we do something other than karaoke?” Taka asked. “I can cook or something. That'd be a fun way to test out my cooking” 

“Fine. We can all hang out on your terms” Ryota sighed as he glared at Taka. 

“Does Friday night work for everyone?” Toru responded. 

“I have a date Friday” Alex said. 

“That was an order, not a question. Find another time to have sex” Toru sighed as he looked at Alex. 

* * *

After rehearsal, Toru went home with Taka, much to Ryota's displeasure. 

Taka was about to make ramen and get him beer, when Toru reminded him it was a school night and he should probably just go to bed. Taka nodded and just went into the bedroom with Toru and lied down. 

“Can you set your alarm for 7?” Toru asked as he got into bed beside Taka. He watched as Taka set an alarm for 7 and then laid back down next to Toru. Toru decided to roll over to lean over top of Taka and kiss him gently. 

“Don't you have to wake up in a few hours?” Taka laughed as he pulled away and rested his forehead against Toru's. 

“Don't remind me” Toru laughed before kissing Taka again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried really hard to rewrite this so they were actually 17/18, but nothing made sense age-wise with them still being in school... so... they're still 16/17, no explicitly physical scenes. ~~although comment if you want them I can add them to later~~


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where we discover why Alex keeps calling Taka and man whore. Kind of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy disclaimer time.
> 
> Probably about to be sued for some kind of defamation of Taka's character.  
> Idk how many people he's slept with. Idk the real story behind those pictures from when he was in NEWS. idk if he's ever had one night stands. idk when/how he first had sex. Could still be a virgin who wants the cause of his death to be amazing sex for all I know.  
> All fiction~~
> 
> Probably gonna be sued for defamation of Takeru... but also Takeru is so beyond fictional at this point he's kinda just an original character who looks like... a certain Japanese actor... But I mean apparently in this he's a math genius going to Keio.. so.. hey... not that bad. 
> 
> Or maybe Toru/Ryota/Tomo are gonna sue me for pretending they were virgins who were skiddish about sex in high school. Who knows.
> 
> Now onto this lame work of fiction

Taka heard the sound of his alarm going off in the morning and groaned loudly. He watched as Toru immediately jumped out of bed like some kind of morning person and turned off the alarm. Taka figured he may as well drag himself out of bed. He got up and felt himself falling back asleep on the couch.

Toru had just finished getting ready for school and sat next to Taka on the couch, accidentally waking him up.

“Maybe you should sleep in the dorm room or the couch tonight” Taka groaned as he rested his head on Toru's shoulder.

Toru laughed as he noticed how tired Taka was, “just don't wake up when I get up”

“How are you alive?” Taka yawned as he looked up at Toru.

“I'll have coffee on my way to school” Toru laughed, “I'm off now, see you tonight?”

Taka nodded before kissing Toru goodbye and falling back asleep.

* * *

Toru arrived at school and found Alex standing in front of his locker with a cup of coffee.

“I brought you coffee” Alex announced before noticing Toru was already holding coffee. “Do you want a second cup of coffee?”

“No I don't want your poison” Toru laughed before drinking his own coffee.

“I would never poison you” Alex huffed as he drank the coffee himself.

“Then why are you buying me coffee?” Toru looked suspiciously at Alex.

“I wanted to know how your talk went last night” Alex laughed, “if you ever did actually talk”

Toru sighed as he looked at Alex, “why the hell would you come barging in if you knew I was there?”

“You said you were having a conversation at night. I didn't realise that meant you were gonna go straight home from school to fuck Taka” Alex laughed.

“We're not having sex” Toru groaned.

“Sure you're not” Alex laughed. “Didn't I tell you if you weren't being honest with me I'd tell you all about my sex life? Because last night I went to Hana's-”

“We're not having sex” Toru cut him off, “but he is my boyfriend”

“Awwwww my little Toru's first boyfriend” Alex laughed as he pinched Toru's cheeks.

“Get the fuck off me” Toru pushed off Alex before going to class.

* * *

Taka was sat around going through his cookbook in the afternoon. He heard the sound of Toru entering his apartment and hugging him from behind before sitting next to him at the table.

“So what are you making me for dinner?” Toru asked as he looked at Taka's book.

“Nice to see you too” Taka joked before going back to his cookbook.

“Right. How was your day today?” Toru asked.

“I slept all day” Taka laughed, “how was yours?”

“Boring. School is boring” Toru groaned before snatching the cookbook from Taka. “Make that for dinner”

Taka sighed as he glared at Toru, “fine. Are you going with me grocery shopping?”

“I have homework to do” Toru responded.

“Then why are you here?” Taka sighed as he looked at Toru.

“Because I wanted to see my boyfriend also?” Toru answered with a smile.

Taka sighed as he made a grocery list and Toru got out homework to do. “You're just gonna sit at my kitchen table and do homework?” Taka asked.

“yes?” Toru answered. “where else would I do homework?”

“Fine. I'm going out to go get groceries” Taka said as he got up to leave.

“You're not gonna kiss me goodbye?” Toru laughed as he got up from the table.

Taka turned around before giving toru a rough goodbye kiss. “The sooner I leave, the sooner I get back though”

Toru laughed before going back to his homework and trying to understand calculus. He heard Taka actually lock the door behind him, grateful that Alex wouldn't be able to just waltz in. He looked down at his homework, thinking about how dumb math is before hearing someone attempting to open the door, followed by knocking. He groaned, thinking Alex was most definitely on the other side. Yet grateful that he wouldn't have to deal with him.

Then Toru heard the sound of a key in the door, followed by the door actually opening. He assumed this was just Taka being dumb and forgetting the door was locked, however Takeru was now staring at him.

“What are you doing here?” Takeru groaned as he leaned against the fridge.

“Taka's getting groceries” Toru responded before continuing to do his homework. “He should be back soon I assume”

“Then why are you here?” Takeru asked again, looking at Toru.

“Why are you here?” Toru asked, looking at Takeru.

“I wanted to see my best friend. why are you here? Don't you have better places to do calculus?” Takeru said as he looked down at his homework. “Your answers are all wrong, by the way”

“No they're not, you're just trying to piss me off…” Toru groaned as he looked up at Takeru.

“But they're wrong” Takeru laughed. “How the fuck did you even come up with that shit?”

“Fine. What's the right answer then?” Toru groaned as he looked at Takeru.

“3x²” Takeru responded.

“Stop making shit up, there's no way you could have figured that out in your head” Toru sighed. “Can you just let me do my calculus in peace?”

Takeru shrugged, “I just memorise the rules rather than using the limit definition of a derivative. You probably aren't that far though”

“Aren't you supposed to be a year younger than me?” Toru groaned as he looked at Takeru.

“Unlike my dumbass friend Taka, I actually pay attention when I get tutored. Hence why I haven't dropped out like him” Takeru laughed.

Toru also laughed before hearing Taka also enter the apartment.

“Are you two… laughing?” Taka asked nervously as he walked into the kitchen and found them laughing.

“I was telling Toru what a dumbass you are” Takeru laughed.

“Oh. Great. Takeru tells lies, don't believe him” Taka sighed as he sat next to Toru at the table.

“So you can help me with my calculus homework?” Toru asked with a smile as he looked at Taka.

“No. You know I hate math” Taka groaned as he looked at Toru's paper. “that's not even math that's greek”

Toru and Takeru both burst out laughing at that comment as Taka looked confused.

“Those are weird greek letters, are they not?” Taka asked.

“Those are numbers and equations, are they not?” Toru laughed.

“Shut up. Why can't they just use numbers?” Taka groaned as he got up. “Are you staying for dinner Takeru?”

“No I have a date, I just figured I'd stop by beforehand” Takeru responded.

“Second date to that guy the other day?” Taka asked.

“No he was a jerk. A jerk who was very good in bed. But still a jerk” Takeru laughed. “Anyway, I should probably get going”

“Don't do anything I wouldn't do” Taka joked before Takeru left.

“Yea? And what wouldn't you do? Shouldn't ‘don't do anything the pope wouldn't do’ be a better guide?” Takeru laughed.

“Don't let them sleepover if it's a one time thing?” Taka answered with a laugh.

Takeru slapped Taka's arm while laughing before responding, “You're horrible at one night stands”

“No that's called being good at one night stands. Don't leave them confused where they stand” Taka laughed before Takeru left, still yelling about him being terrible.

“How often do you have one night stands?” Toru asked, looking at Taka.

“Not often anymore” Taka responded.

“Anymore?” Toru asked nervously.

“I've been kinda busy with the band the past few months”, Taka shrugged. “Besides, I have a boyfriend now. I'm not gonna cheat on you”

“But how many have you had?” Toru asked.

“I don't keep a running tally” Taka chuckled before realising Toru looked like a mixture of shock and horror. “50ish maybe? I don't really know. Anyway, I should get started on dinner...”

Toru went back to do his math homework, however his mind busy thinking of how many people had already slept with Taka. “I give up on calculus for tonight. Want help with dinner?”

“Do your homework, we can't have two high school dropouts in the band” Taka sighed as he looked at Toru.

“Fine mom” Toru replied sarcastically before going back to doing homework.

“Ehhhh don't call me mom, that's weird” Taka laughed as he continued making dinner.

“You're nagging me to do homework while making dinner, that's pretty motherly. If only you could also help me do calculus…” Toru noted.

Taka put the food in the oven then sat down next to Toru. “I'm really good at writing random stuff and pretending I know what I'm doing. Is there a formula? I can sometimes manage to use those”

“Sometimes?” Toru laughed.

“Shut up, you know I'm not good at math” Taka groaned as he put his head on the table. “Can't you just call a friend to help?”

“I'll deal with it tomorrow at lunch” Toru laughed before getting them both beers and putting away his homework. “What are you making us for dinner on friday?”

“Oh right. I forgot about that” Taka groaned as he began going through his cookbook. “What do people like?”

“Anything with meat” Toru laughed. “If this turns out well you could probably make it”

* * *

Friday came and Taka spent most of the day cooking on his own and listening to music. Toru showed up a few hours early, as expected. He tried to help cooking but mostly got in Taka's way and was relegated to washing dishes.

Alex arrived 30 minutes early, only to be bitched out by Taka for being so early.

“Stop hitting me with the book! Fuck! I was doing you a favour” Alex groaned as Taka chased him around the apartment.

“Yea? What favour was that? To help me clean?” Taka sighed, waiting for a good response.

“Your apartment's already clean you fucking idiot” Alex laughed. “I was making sure you weren't going to be making out with Toru and the door unlocked again”

“What the _fuck_ ” Taka yelled before trying to chase Alex even more.

Alex laughed while trying to take cover behind Toru. “Save me”

“I'm not protecting you” Toru laughed while pushing Alex off him.

“Of course you're choosing your boyfriend over me” Alex huffed as he managed to restrain Taka from attacking him.

“Stop teasing me about this” Taka groaned as he tried to escape Alex's clutches.

“Who said anything about teasing?” Alex laughed before letting Taka go, “Toru told me you're his boyfriend”

“Don't drop me in this” Toru laughed as Taka began hitting him with the cookbook. “Ouch, for such a short person, you have quite the temper”

“Did you call me short?” Taka yelled as he chased Toru around the apartment.

“You are short though” Toru laughed before Taka cornered him and hit him with the book repeatedly. He heard knocking at the door, and tried to talk Taka into answering it for Ryota and Tomo, but Alex got to it first and let them in.

“Err… why's Taka attacking Toru with a cookbook?” Ryota asked awkwardly as he walked into the room.

“That's how he shows affection” Alex laughed.

“If that's what he does to his friends I'd hate to see what he does to his enemies” Tomo noted as Ryota nodded. 

“Ok, Taka, ready to act like a fully grown adult?” Toru laughed as he grabbed the cookbook from him and scooped his arms underneath Taka's armpits.

“He's calling you short again” Alex laughed.

“If you could have restrained him the entire time, why didn't you earlier?” Ryota asked, looking terrified by Taka.

“He likes to pretend he's scary and sometimes I indulge him” Toru laughed.

“I'm going to fucking murder you both” Taka groaned while trying to break free from Toru's grip. “Wasn't this meant to be band bonding, not torture the vocalist?”

“Depends, where's the food?” Alex laughed before getting himself a beer. “I feel like I've been here for 30 minutes and all you've done is hit me in the face with a cookbook"

“It's in the oven, but some jackass is trying to prevent me from putting it on the table” Taka laughed as Toru let him go.

Ryota and Tomo both looked at Taka terrified, but sat down at the table anyway as Taka got the food from the oven and placed it on the table.

Toru successfully moderated the conversation and everyone was mostly getting along. It was a bit tense and awkward, like they were strangers rather than 5 members of a band.

After dinner, Alex broke out the vodka from Taka's fridge and suggested they play never have I ever again.

Taka groaned as he stared at Alex, “because that went so well last time”

“I'm with Taka, that last time was kinda disastrous” Toru added.

“We could play truth or dare” Tomo suggested.

“No” Taka groaned, “Alex is just gonna abuse that like he abused never have I ever. Nothing that involves spilling secrets”

“Why? Do you have a bunch of secrets you don't want us to know?” Alex gave a knowing laugh.

“No, I just don't want to have to answer your dumb perverted questions” Taka sighed.

“Really? You have _no_ secrets?” Tomo asked.

Taka looked at Tomo suspiciously, unsure what he meant by that.

“Everyone has secrets. Like um. I'm very shy” Tomo admitted.

“Yes. We all know that” Alex laughed. “He should have to drink for that. Telling a secret that's not actually a secret”

“What? You do better” Tomo grumbled before taking a shot.

“Sometimes I like to barge into Taka's apartment unannounced just to piss him off” Alex snickered.

“Yes. I knew that” Taka groaned, “drink”

“Yet you never kick me out” Alex laughed after putting down his drink.

“Sometimes I get lonely living on my own” Taka admitted.

“You don't even live on your own” Ryota groaned, “I don't even know the last time my supposed roommate was in our dorm room”

“That's silly, I stayed there Sunday night” Toru sighed.

“And you haven't been back since” Ryota pointed out.

“I wish I lived on my own” Tomo noted, “parents are exhausting”

“Same here. I'd have sex in the kitchen” Alex laughed.

“Drink for that dumb secret” Toru sighed as he looked at Alex.

“That wasn't meant to be a secret” Alex laughed, “I'd even do it in the bedroom, it's exhausting trying to find a nice, private place to have sex. Ryota's lucky to be living on his own”

“Then drink for talking to us about sex” Toru laughed.

“I can't even take advantage of an empty dorm room, since I don't have a girlfriend” Ryota groaned.

“That never stops me” Alex laughed in response. “Just meet a nice girl, bring her back to your dorm room, and have sex”

“Stop corrupting him with your shitty ideas” Toru sighed.

“I'm 16, not 6. I do know what a one night stand is” Ryota groaned, glaring at Toru. 

“That doesn't stop it from being a bad idea” Taka pointed out.

“No offense Taka, but I really don't think you're the person to judge on this shit” Ryota snapped back.

Toru groaned as he glared at Ryota, “why do you always snap at him when he's saying sensible things”

“Haven't I seen pictures of you, probably naked in bed with your girlfriend?” Ryota shot back at Taka, ignoring Toru.

Silence fell over the room as everyone stared at Ryota.

“That was kinda uncalled for...” Tomo said quietly, breaking the silence.

“It's true though” Ryota huffed.

“Apologise” Toru ordered, looking at Ryota.

“Why? We've all seen the pictures. We may as well admit it” Ryota groaned.

“I don't even know what pictures you're talking about” Toru sighed, looking around and realising everyone knew what pictures were being talked about.

“You should google him sometime. It's a wild ride” Alex laughed, hoping to ease some of the tension.

“Whatever, I have to go” Ryota huffed as he got up and left.

“I'll go follow him” Tomo offered as he got up to leave as well.

Taka watched as the other two left before resting himself against Toru. “Shouldn't you go follow Ryota or something?”

“No I'll just text Tomo to talk with him” Toru sighed as he got out his phone.

“As much as I love watching you two being loved up with each other, I think I'm gonna head out now” Alex said awkwardly before getting up to leave.

Taka followed him to the door and locked it before going back to the living room and sitting back on the ground next to Toru.

“Go ahead. Ask your questions” Taka offered as he looked over at Toru.

Toru looked back at Taka silently. He was kind of curious about the pictures, and did have a vague memory of Alex mentioning pictures. But at the same time, Taka was his boyfriend. He already knew Taka had had sex with women before, lots of them apparently. He didn't really want to see any photographic evidence of the matter.

Taka sighed as he glared at Toru, “stop gawking at me. Just ask your questions and get this conversation over with”

“We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to” Toru said quietly, looking at Taka. “We can just go to bed if you'd prefer”

“Just ask me your questions. You should hear things from me, not someone else” Taka sighed, shifting himself to try and get comfortable on Toru for a conversation. Except they were both sitting on the living room floor, and there probably is no comfortable position.

“We can talk somewhere more comfortable” Toru offered, laughing as Taka kept changing his sitting position every 5 seconds.

“Fine” Taka sighed before getting up and going to the bedroom.

Toru laughed as he followed his boyfriend into the bedroom, “I was comfortable. You were the one who couldn't keep still”

“I like to be comfortable when having serious conversations” Taka sighed as he laid on the bed. “Is that a problem?”

“No” Toru responded, pulling Taka to be laying on his chest. He mindlessly stroked Taka's back underneath his shirt, hoping to comfort him.

“I was dumb” Taka admitted, staring at his nightstand.

“Was?” Toru laughed.

“I'm trying to have a serious conversation here” Taka groaned, looking up at Toru.

“Sorry” Toru mumbled, bracing himself to hear about these pictures of Taka and some girl. “Continue”

“Anyway. I was young and dumb. Very dumb. And a virgin” Taka started, tilting his head to be looking at the nightstand again. “And I was on a date with this girl, she was a few years older than me. I kinda knew her through some mutual friends. We had hung out before, but this was the first time we hung out one on one. And I was kinda, y'know, desperate to have sex. Tired of being the only virgin in the group”

Toru laid there nervously, feeling Taka tense up whenever he took long pauses. He wanted to comfort Taka through this story, but also selfishly didn't want to hear any details of his boyfriend having sex with other people.

“So anyway, we went to her house. We were drinking, smoking, the usual delinquent teenaged things. I was reeeaally drunk and horny, so I decided to just have sex with her. Anyway, we cuddled afterwards in the bed. And I guess I stayed there too long, because eventually our friends showed up” Taka paused for a few minutes to gather his thoughts, and to hug Toru tighter. “And someone took a picture. I don't even know which friend, but I was in NEWS at the time, right? And they sold it to the tabloids. It was in the magazines, my parents were pissed, Johnny's was pissed, they kicked me out and gave a lame excuse of focusing on studying. It was horrible. I ended up dropping out of school later on anyway, then my parents got divorced and I ran away. That whole year was awful”

Toru hugged Taka tightly, unsure how to respond to that kind of confession. “did you ever find out how the tabloids got the pictures?”

“No, I cut contact with that entire group of people” Taka admitted. “I ended up with Takeru as my only friend. He wasn't there that day and also cut ties from that group. That's why he's kinda excessively protective of me”

“Yet he still lets you have a bunch of one night stands” Toru pointed out.

“‘Lets me’? I don't need his permission to have sex” Taka laughed, “he used to give me a hard time about it, but I was in such a bad place and kept continuing sleeping with randoms anyway. He eventually gave up after having sex for the first time, and began doing the exact same one night stand routine I was doing. Then he couldn't really judge me anymore on the matter and gave up”

“Makes sense, I think? One night stands seem kinda weird” Toru admitted.

“Good. I don't want you to cheat on me” Taka said, yawning as he rested his head on Toru's chest. “Can we sleep now? I'm all talked out”

Toru laughed as he pulled the covers over both of them and turned off the lamp before falling asleep.

* * *

Ryota and Tomo walked back to the dorm room in uncomfortable silence. Tomo thought about just confronting him outside of Taka's building, but got a text from Toru saying to talk to him and he could just stay in the dorm room. So he figured he'd just save the confrontation for when they got back to the dorm room.

“Why are you following me?” Ryota groaned as he let Tomo into the dorms anyway.

“To talk?” Tomo suggested.

Ryota sighed as he glared at Tomo, “to get mad about me pointing out the obvious about Taka? We were all thinking it”

“well yea, but he was trying to give you advice to uh, not fuck up the same ways he's fucked up?” Tomo responded.

“I wasn't actually going to have a one night stand” Ryota groaned, “it's just really irritating when Toru acts like I'm some kind of little kid who needs protection from the scary world of sex”

“He's just looking out for you. You always say he's like a big brother, right?” Tomo pointed out as he got into Toru's bed.

“Why are you getting into his bed? He may come home at some point” Ryota groaned, looking at Tomo.

“He said he'd stay with Taka and I should make sure you're ok” Tomo admitted.

“Of course he's choosing Taka over me again” Ryota sighed, getting into his own bed.

“Why are you mad at Taka if Toru's the one choosing him? Isn't that kinda backwards” Tomo pointed out. “Taka's trying to make an effort to be nice to us. He's kinda scary but he makes good food”

“I was making an effort, tonight was meant to be band bonding tine. It was my idea” Ryota groaned.

“Maybe band bonding time should be more, uh, joking and less you making snarky comments about Taka's past?” Tomo shrugged. “I'm going to bed. We can go apologise to Taka tomorrow”

“I'm not apologising to him” Ryota groaned before going to bed himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just as bad at in real life timelines as fictional ones. I can't keep the actual timeline of Taka's life straight to save my goddamn life. Apologies if anything referencing real world events was time-wise off. 
> 
> I don't think Taka and Ryota ever actively hated each other, but didn't they also just not talk until Taka had been in the band for a year? I swear I read that somewhere, something to do with feeling inferior musically. I could be wrong though.  
> So anyway, the Taka/Ryota feud is fictional as well. But I mean... from Ryota's perspective, Toru has literally replaced him with Taka.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah ok didn't realise it had been so long since I last posted. Got so caught up on the writing, forgot about actually posting haaaa. Ok. I changed the rating to mature. Because apparently y'all want the sweet Toruka bedroom scenes. ;)

Taka and Toru woke up excessively early the next morning, for some strange unknown reason. Probably because they were both used to waking up excessively early for Toru's school. So naturally, the one day they'd be able to sleep in, their body clocks had other plans. Taka made breakfast for them as Toru was writing a new song on the guitar. They ate breakfast together before going over to the couch, where Taka tried to practise guitar and Toru sat and watched, noting how much better he had gotten in the past week or so.

They were planning on spending the entire alone together, until they heard the sound of a door trying to be opened. Taka went to go get it, assuming it was Alex. However, Takeru was on the other end.

“good morning” Taka grunted as he let his overly cheerful friend into the apartment.

“Good morning my bestest friend in the world” Takeru said cheerfully as he walked into the main area and saw toru already there. “Ah, he's here again”

“Good morning to you too” Toru fake smiled at Takeru.

“Aren't you guys getting along these days? Bonding over how much I suck at math?” Taka asked nervously, not wanting Takeru and Toru to kick off at each other.

“he's alright I guess” Takeru sighed.

“That's quite the endorsement, thank you” Toru laughed in response.

“Aren't you gonna say something nice about Takeru in response?” Taka asked, kicking Toru's shin.

Toru looked at Takeru for a few seconds, trying to think of something nice. “He's a good friend to you”

“Thanks? I think?” Takeru laughed awkwardly.

“Ahh isn't this nice, my two best friends getting along” Taka said, leaning back on the couch.

“Getting along is a bit of a stretch, I still hate him for that time-”

“Yes. Yes I know. That time we went on a date years ago and he ran away saying he wasn't gay. Blaaah I've heard this story before” Taka groaned, thinking now would be a good time to just tell Takeru about his new relationship, however he was distracted by a knocking at the door.

“What the hell, do you have friends other than us?” Toru laughed awkwardly.

“None that knock” Taka responded, before noticing Takeru was now up and opening the door. “You know you don't actually live here?” Taka laughed as he followed Takeru to the door.

“Sorry, are you busy? We can come back” Ryota said awkwardly, looking up at Takeru.

“Don't leave on my account” Takeru laughed, letting Ryota and Tomo into the apartment.

Taka sat back on the couch beside Toru. Takeru sat on the coffee table across from Taka. Ryota and Tomo both sat down on the couch on the other side of Toru.

“So Taka, who are your friends?” Takeru laughed, trying to break the awkward silence.

“We're not his friends” Ryota responded quickly.

Taka sighed as he glared at Ryota. “Tomo plays drums, and Ryota plays bass. This is my friend Takeru”

“Ahh, so these are the people I get to blame my best friend ditching me for” Takeru nodded, looking at them.

“Take him back, we don't want him” Ryota sighed, only to be hit simultaneously by Tomo and Toru.

“Only if you also take back Toru. He hogs Taka too much” Takeru laughed as Taka kicked his shin.

“You and Toru were getting along like 5 minutes ago. Don't make me lock you two in a closet to work out your issues” Taka groaned, glaring at Takeru.

“Careful Taka, you're giving me ideas on how to solve your feud with Ryota” Toru laughed, looking at Taka.

“Make them say nice things about each other” Takeru chuckled, now moderating the band discussion from the coffee table.

“No” Ryota and Taka both groaned in unison.

“Weren't we here to apologise anyway?” Tomo pointed out, staring at Ryota.

“Sorry for last night” Ryota mumbled, not even bothering to look at Taka.

“Apology accepted” Taka responded, not wanting to get into any of the comments made last night.

“Now say something nice about him, Taka” Takeru giggled.

“He's, uhhh, improved at bass a lot in the past few months” Taka responded.

“Good. Now say something nice about Taka, Ryota” Toru laughed.  

“He's good at singing” Ryota sighed.

Toru sighed, massaging his temples, “that was lame, but I won't shove you into a locked room yet”

“Kinky” Alex laughed as he suddenly entered the apartment through Taka's unlocked door. “Oh, look at that. Full house today”

“Why are you here?” Taka groaned, watching as Alex sat next to Takeru on the coffee table.

“Because I love pissing you off in the morning” Alex laughed, looking at Taka. “It's my second favourite hobby, after-”

“Yes. We know you love sex. Stop telling us” Toru groaned.

“Actually I was gonna say guitar, but pissing you off for being a virgin is just as fun” Alex laughed.

“Why are you making jokes about him being a virgin?” Takeru laughed, “didn't you have sex for the first time, like yesterday?”

“See what kind of idiots I'm forced to deal with? No wonder i had relationship problems, hanging out with these two manwhores all the time” Alex sighed sarcastically, shaking his head at Taka and Takeru.

“No one forces you to hang out with us, you can leave anytime you want” Taka groaned, glaring at Alex.

“Oh right, I actually came here to tell you about my new relationship” Takeru announced, “buuuut I'll tell you later since we're having a lunch date and I should probably get going”

“Tell me all about it later” Taka called out as Takeru left and promised to give the good details.

“I like him. We should hang out with him more” Ryota smiled, looking at Toru.

“Careful what you wish for, Ryota. Takeru's like a moodier version of Taka with little to no sex story filter” Alex laughed.

“and he's a condescending jerk” Toru crossed his arms and rested his feet on the coffee table.

“Why don't you get along with him?” Tomo asked, looking over at Toru.

“Wouldn't it be nice if we spent time at my apartment and no one stomped out over an offensive comment?” Taka responded quickly before anyone else could answer. “He just doesn't like that I spend more time with you guys than with him. That's all”

“Speaking of which, I should probably do some homework before our live tonight” Ryota noted before getting up. “Are you coming home Toru?”

“No I'll just stay here. Don't be late tonight” toru ordered.

“Aye aye leader” Ryota responded sarcastically before leaving.

“And since you so rudely cancelled my date last night, I think I'm gonna-”

“You can just say ‘i'm leaving as well'” Toru cut off Alex before he could even finish the sentence.

“Bye then” Alex laughed as he also keft the apartment.

“Do you have anymore food from yesterday?” Tomo asked, looking at Taka. “It was good”

Taka looked at Tomo for a few seconds, unsure how to respond. It was nice that at least one other band member wanted to spend non-band time with him, but at the same time Taka kinda just wanted to spend all day with Toru alone.

“Yes” Toru responded for him, “I can reheat it for you. Ignore Taka, he's just shell shocked that no one got in a fight”

“Right. Yes. Went rather well, I think” Taka said quietly as he scratched his neck.

“And your friend Takeru's nice” Tomo added.

“Yea, he's fun to hang out with” Taka responded before hearing Toru snort. “Shut up Toru”

“What's the real reason you don't like him?” Tomo asked, looking at Toru.

“It really is the thing Taka just answered” Toru responded nervously, not wanting to get into the real reason. Tomo was the final member to not know about the date, and didn't want him to ask too many questions.

“oh. I thought that was a lie because Alex was gonna kick off or something” Tomo nodded as he ate the leftovers.

“Nope” Taka laughed, “they're actually friends. They used to work together. Toru's the one who was gonna kick off”

“I wasn't gonna kick off” Toru huffed as he crossed his arms and glared at Taka. “I don't hate him nearly as much as he hates me”

“Why does he hate you?” Tomo asked innocently.

“he does actually think I hog taka's time. Sometimes he even kicks me out of this apartment so he can get Taka time” Toru laughed.

“Sounds like someone else I know” Tomo laughed.

“Yea, except unlike Ryota, I tolerate Takeru's existence since he's important to Taka” Toru added.

“How mature of you. Tolerating his existence” Taka snickered as he glanced at Toru.

“I do tolerate his existence” Toru sighed as he glared at Taka. “Anyway, what are you up to before the live tonight, Tomo?”

“I have no plans. What are you guys up to?” Tomo smiled.

“Homework or something, probably” Toru groaned.

“I thought we were gonna write that new song?” Taka pouted, looking over at toru.

“You can write it while you watch me do math” Toru laughed, looking at Taka.

“Do you have homework to do, Taka?” Tomo asked.

“No” Taka sighed. “I dropped out of school a while ago”

“Oh” Tomo responded quietly.

“Good to know some things about me aren't on google yet” Taka laughed awkwardly as he went into the living room and laid down on the couch.

“I only googled you to figure out if you were the guy from the magazine, it wasn't malicious” Tomo responded, trying to defend himself from whatever outburst Taka was about to give.

“It's fine”, Taka groaned, “just don't tell me about it”

Toru and Tomo both followed him to the couch area. Tomo sat on the coffee table as Toru tried to move Taka's legs to make room for him.

“Aren't you meant to be doing your homework?” Taka laughed as he kicked Toru for sitting beside him on the couch.

“Don't you usually get pissed when people sit on your coffee table? I was making room for tomo to sit on the couch as well” Toru laughed.

“It used to be, but Alex and Takeru seem to sit on it daily and it hasn't broken yet” Taka laughed and opted to just stretch his legs to rest his feet on Toru's legs. “Don't you have greek homework or something?”

“Greek?” Tomo asked, watching the bizarre body language interaction between Taka and Toru.

“The reason he dropped out of school is he confused calculus with greek, and naturally failed out” Toru laughed before Taka began kicking him.

“That's not why, that was just some weird greek shit you were working on earlier” Taka laughed.

“Would you prefer the ‘you're a dumbass who can't do math’ version?” Toru laughed as he tried to control Taka's kicking legs. “Stop, you're gonna scare off Tomo”

“Fine” Taka groaned as he reverted to just resting his legs on Toru's.

“So what do you two do all day?” Tomo asked, looking at Taka and Toru.

“This?” Toru chuckled, looking at Tomo.

“He's meant to be doing homework, but, yea. This” Taka laughed.

“Entertain your guest, Taka. I've got homework to do” Toru smirked as he went to grab his laptop from Taka's bedroom.

Taka glared at Toru walking into his bedroom and turned back to face Tomo. “Do you like… food?”

“Yes?” Tomo laughed as Taka looked around and watched Toru come back with the laptop.

“He just had lunch you idiot” Toru laughed as he sat down next to Taka. “Do something else to entertain him”

“Uhhh… I have… CDs?” Taka looked around nervously for entertainment.

Toru sighed as he looked at Taka, “are you always this dumb at entertaining people?”

“No, I'm a good host! I provide food and alcohol. Then everything else falls naturally” Taka laughed as he looked back at Toru.

“You don't actually have to entertain me” Tomo laughed, “i just have nowhere better to be and figured I'd hang out with you two”

“I have magazines” Taka announced as he went to his room to grab a pile of magazines. “You can read them if you want”

“Woooah, you have a lot” Tomo announced as he looked at Taka's pile.

“Go wild” Taka laughed as he laid back down on the couch and read through a magazine.

* * *

Toru, Taka, and Tomo were the first to show up to the live house for the sound check that night. Ryota was the next to straggle along, followed by Alex who showed up with a few seconds to spare.

The band finished sound check and Ryota and Tomo both went out for dinner, leaving Taka and Toru alone with Alex. Taka was never quite sure what Alex actually knew about their relationship, but he did love to tease them relentlessly. But then he would drop the teasing as soon as anyone else would show up, which was a departure from when he used to gang up with Takeru against Taka. Taka wasn't quite sure if Alex was being serious that Toru told him about their relationship, or if he was just using it as a way to get a definitive answer from them.

“So what did you two do today?” Alex asked with a suggestive grin, breaking Taka out of his thoughts.

“Tomo hung out with us in Taka's apartment” Toru responded.

“Oh. That's a lot more wholesome than I was assuming” Alex responded, “wanna hear about my day?”

“No” Taka and Toru both responded in unison.

“Why must you two always assume the worst in me?” Alex sighed, looking between them.

“Because you always assume the worst in us?” Toru laughed in response.

Alex didn't respond but just stared at Toru with squinty eyes before Ryota and Tomo entered, effectively ending the relationship teasing.

“We're gonna go do karaoke with some friends afterwards!” Tomo announced as him and Ryota sat down near the couch the other three were sitting at. “Anyone wanna join us?”

“No, I have some nice plans afterwards” Alex snickered.

“I think my voice is probably gonna be exhausted afterwards, I'll sit this one out” Taka answered.

“I have even more homework to do tomorrow, I think I'll just skip this one as well” Toru answered, “next time though maybe”

* * *

Toru and Taka arrived back to Taka's apartment after the show. Taka was still a buzzing ball of energy from the adrenaline, while Toru was groaning that he actually did want to sleep.

“You should have just gone to karaoke if you still have so much energy” Toru sighed as he watched his hyperactive boyfriend fidgeting beside him on the couch.

“Do you want tea?” Taka offered, “I want tea…”

Toru laughed as Taka got up to make tea for both of them, and decided to lay back down on the couch in the meantime. He began nodding off, exhausted from the performance, and tired from a lack of sleep with school starting up again.

Toru didn't even notice he was falling asleep until he was suddenly awoken by someone shoving their arms underneath him. He also wasn't sure how long he was asleep for until he noticed Taka was now showered and already in his pjs.

“What the fuck?” Toru muttered, waking up from his slumber as he saw Taka trying - and failing - to pick him up off the couch.

“Shhh, I'm trying to bring you to bed without waking you up” Taka whispered as he tried his best to pick Toru up.

Toru laughed as he looked at his boyfriend, curious to know whether or not Taka would actually going to be able to carry him.

“Uugh you're too heavy” Taka groaned, giving up on his task of attempting to lift Toru off the couch. “Get up, I wanna cuddle”

Toru looked up at Taka, smiling at how adorable he is when he pouts. He wasn't quite sure why Ryota and Tomo always acted like they were terrified of him, he currently looked like a puppy waiting for his family to come home.

Taka's face changed quickly from pouting to irritation, “can you get off the couch already before I fucking roll you all the way-”

Toru cut off Taka by suddenly lifting him up and carrying him to his bedroom.

“Put me down you goddamn asshole, I can walk to my bedroom myself”, Taka began fighting back as Toru ignored his protests and continued carrying Taka to his bedroom.

“Yet I have to be rolled around like a log?” Toru laughed as he laid Taka on his back and hovered over top of him.

“You were _sleeping_ like a log” Taka responded, looking up at Toru who was caging him between his arms. “It only makes sense you would be _rolled_ like a log”

Toru laughed before leaning forward to kiss Taka, exploring the entirety of Taka's mouth with his tongue. He had been exhausted earlier, but after a brief nap, and after throwing Taka onto the bed, all Toru wanted was Taka. Taka had naturally spread his legs a bit upon hitting the bed, allowing Toru to get between them. He felt the hands of Taka reaching underneath his shirt at the back, scratching his skin. He let out a soft moan at the sensation, and bit Taka’s puffy bottom lip in response.

Taka moaned as Toru began kissing his jaw before making his way to his neck. He groaned at the feeling of Toru’s tongue and teeth against his skin, and dug his nails even harder into Toru’s back.

Toru smiled down at Taka before returning his kisses to his mouth. Taka moved his hands from Toru’s back to his hair, pulling Toru’s head towards him to get a better angle on the kiss. Toru groaned a bit at the pulling of his hair, and Taka began grinding his hips against Toru’s, desperate for some kind of attention to his lower body. Toru’s breathing hitched at the feeling of Taka’s clothed erection rubbing against his own, he wasn’t expecting the sudden jolt of pleasure as he returned the motion, causing Taka to moan loudly.

Taka’s arms fell loosely from Toru’s hair back to his waist as Toru was roughly grinding their hips together, both men panting loudly. The kiss was getting sloppy, neither of them capable of keeping their mouths pressed together. Toru gave up on the kissing, and rested his forehead against Taka’s. Taka squeezed his eyes shut and bit on his lip, trying his best to not climax too quickly. Although that was a lost cause as soon as he felt Toru sucking on his neck again, biting it right where it hit his shoulders. Taka was sure it probably should hurt, Toru was practically eating it, not just nibbling like he had been earlier. But all he felt was release as all his muscles tightened up, followed by a sudden relaxation.

Toru’s movements slowed down at the same time, breathing heavily as he continued hovering over Taka. They stayed like that for who knows how long, looking at each other, breathing the same air, attempting to catch their breaths. All Taka wanted to do was to stay like that for forever, enjoying the post-coital bliss with Toru. It had been so long since the last time he ever actually wanted to enjoy the moments after climax with someone else, he wasn’t sure when the last time it was. Usually he’d roll over afterwards, deny them a cuddle, occasionally kick them out of his apartment. But right now, all he really wanted to do was continue staring at his boyfriend, who was staring back down at him with a smile on his face.

Taka groaned audibly when he suddenly remembered his pants would be a goddamn pain to clean up if left to dry overnight. He noticed Toru was now looking at him like a lost puppy as he tried to break free.

“W-hy are you leaving?” Toru asked, watching as Taka got up off the bed.

Taka hated the way Toru's voice cracked, like the way his previous one night stands would react when he got off the bed and left immediately after. He turned back to face the guitarist, smiled, then awkwardly turned back around to change his pants. He wasn't quite sure why the thought of taking off his boxers in front of Toru was freaking him out, they literally just dry humped each other to completion 5 seconds ago. He felt himself physically jump when Toru was suddenly beside him, probably staring at his now flaccid member.

“Are you really that afraid of getting changed in front of me?” Toru chuckled as he changed his own pants.

“No, I just uhhh” Taka didn't really have a good answer as he stared rudely at Toru's dick.

Toru laughed a bit as he realised Taka was now ogling his dick and put a hand on Taka's shoulder before giving him a quick kiss. They both put a fresh pair of pjs on before getting back in bed and cuddling for the night.


	12. Chapter 12

Taka and Toru were sat around Taka's apartment the next morning, cuddling on Taka's couch as they listened to music and had random conversations. Toru was meant to be doing homework, but Taka was laying on his chest and he was enjoying the time they had in the apartment without anyone else. Besides, if he still had homework to do, he could use it as an excuse to not have to interact with others when they inevitably barged into the apartment. 

They heard the sound of someone attempting to open the door, followed by laughter. Taka sighed, figuring it must be Alex, and decided to just answer the door. 

“What do you want?” Taka groaned as he let Alex into the apartment. 

Alex laughed hysterically upon seeing Taka's neck. “I take it your door was locked for a reason?” 

“Yea, to keep jackasses like you from barging in” Taka groaned, letting Alex in anyway. 

“Have a nice night last night, you two?” Alex continued laughing even harder when he saw Toru laying on the couch. 

Toru's heart stopped when he suddenly remembered Taka had a giant hickey on his neck, that clearly Alex had noticed. Taka sat on the floor in front of the couch as Alex sat down next to him, still laughing at the bruise on Taka's neck. 

“Jesus, was that Toru or a vampire?” Alex laughed as he saw the bruise up close. 

“What the fuck are you on about?” Taka groaned, looking at Alex. 

Alex laughed even harder when he realised Taka probably hadn't even noticed, “you have a giant hickey on your neck, by the way” 

Taka immediately got up and went to his room to examine the damage and find something to cover it up. He found a random sweater that didn't look familiar, it was a very large hoodie. He put it on, kind of confused where it came from, and noticed it did indeed cover up the offending mark. He thought about finding a better sweater, but heard the sound of his front door opening and Takeru's voice calling his name and decided to just go with it. 

Takeru and Alex were already set up in their usual positions on the coffee table with Toru awkwardly sitting on the couch in front of them. Taka sat down on the opposite side of the couch and greeted Takeru, who was giving Taka some kind of weird glare. Taka began freaking out, thinking perhaps the sweater had bunched up somewhere and his hickey was now visible. 

“What sweater is that?” Takeru asked, looking at Taka's choice of clothing. 

Taka sighed as he glared at Takeru, “do you have my entire wardrobe memorised?”

“No, it's just way too big for you. looks weird” Takeru noted. 

“shut up, I'm cold” Taka groaned, “it's practically winter” 

“It's barely October you dumbass” Takeru laughed, looking at Taka. 

“So? It's cold” Taka sighed. “Oh yea, how was your date? You still haven't told me anything about your boyfriend” 

Taka watched as Takeru immediately lit up upon telling Taka about his date, making a mental note to use this as a good excuse to change subjects more often. Taka heard the sound of knocking at the door and watched as Toru got up to answer it. 

Toru looked confused when he noticed Ryota and Tomo were both at Taka’s door, but let them in anyway. 

“This is Tomo’s doing, not mine” Ryota groaned as he ignored Toru and followed Tomo into the main area and found Taka, Alex, and Taka’s friend from yesterday. Ryota sat on the far end of the couch, away from Taka. Tomo sat next to Toru who was next to Taka. 

Alex looked awkwardly at the tense situation on the couch, Ryota was glaring at Taka suspiciously, while Taka was pretending to not notice. The room was completely silent, he wasn’t even sure why Ryota and Tomo had suddenly shown up. He tried to break the awkward silence in the room with the best topic he could think of, “I had sex with Hana last night”

The four men on the couch groaned in unison, complaining that he talks about sex too much, they don’t care, the usual response to Alex’s stories. 

“Who’s Hana?” Takeru asked, looking at Alex. 

“Wow Takeru, thank you for being my only good friend who listens to me” Alex laughed. 

“I drown you out after the ‘I had sex’ part” Ryota informed him and everyone else nodded in agreement. 

“Is that the same Hana you had sex with on the school roof?” Toru asked, looking at Alex. “Is she your girlfriend or something?”

“Or a fuck buddy” Taka muttered.

“You had sex on the school roof?” Tomo asked. 

“What judgement from you four” Alex sighed as he glared at his band members, “maybe Takeru and I should just hang out without you” 

“Feel free to do so” Taka responded. 

Takeru kicked Taka's shin for being rude, and Taka gave him a glare. Takeru then smirked and decided to just rest his feet on Taka's knees. “So who is Hana?” 

“First of all,” Alex started, “I had sex with Kimmy on the school roof, not Hana” 

“I’m impressed you remember the names” Toru chuckled. 

“Second of all, Hana is my girlfriend, and if you four ever actually listened to my stories without cutting me off, you would have known that” Alex crossed his arms. 

“Actual girlfriend?” Taka laughed, “remember that one time you told us you had a girlfriend then it turned out it was a one night thing?”

Alex groaned, “I was dumb, and inexperienced back then. This time, I made sure to ask before telling you all I have a girlfriend”

“That was a week ago” Taka laughed. 

“When do we all get to meet your girlfriend?” Ryota asked, looking at Alex. 

“Well she goes to the same school as us, so, probably soon” Alex responded. 

“When do I get to meet her then?” Taka asked, looking at Alex. 

“Yea I wanna meet her as well” Takeru added on. “We could go on a double date sometime”

“Fine” Alex sighed, “Wednesday?” 

“I’ll let you know…” Takeru responded as he got out his phone to text his boyfriend. 

“But I wanna meet them first” Taka whined, pouting as he looked at Takeru. 

“Fine” Takeru sighed, “I’ll introduce you two sometime after school this week…”

“Good” Taka smiled, feeling accomplished as Takeru laughed and rolled his eyes. “And when do I get to meet Hana?” 

“Never” Alex laughed. Taka crossed his arms and pouted in response but Alex just continued laughing, “that works on Takeru but not me” 

“But we're friends I wanna meet your girlfriend” Taka groaned. “Why does Takeru get to meet her but not me?”

“Because I've known Takeru longer and he's higher up on the hierarchy” Alex laughed. “Also since when are we even friends?” 

“Since you began barging into my unit unannounced daily?” Taka responded. “Why are you even here today?”

“To piss you off, as usual” Alex laughed, “Why are Ryota and Tomo here?”

Tomo was mumbling stuff about food while Ryota was mumbling things about Toru being here. 

“Ah, came to see my squatter” Taka laughed as he heard Ryota mention Toru. “What kind of food?” 

“You're actually gonna cook for me?” Tomo asked with wide eyes, looking at Taka. 

“I was also gonna cook for myself…” Taka responded, looking around nervously. “Am I cooking for all you idiots again?” 

“Yes” Takeru, Toru, and Alex responded in unison as Tomo and Ryota both mumbled something of a yes. 

Taka sighed as he kicked Takeru’s legs off his knees and got up, first resting his head on Takeru’s, “There’s precious ears here, don’t go corrupting them with your stories”. 

Takeru laughed as he tried to slap Taka, but Taka just continued walking to the kitchen. 

“I wanna hear the stories” Ryota announced. He had had enough of Toru and now Taka trying to protect him from the scary world, he wanted to prove himself being adult enough to handle whatever kind of stories Takeru had. 

“You really don’t” Alex laughed, looking at Ryota, “not even I wanna hear them” 

“How did you meet your girlfriend?” Tomo asked innocently, looking at Takeru. 

Taka was curious at that question, and decided to return to the group to watch Ryota and Tomo’s reactions. He also kind of wanted to gauge their reaction to learning of someone being gay, as a mental note for when Toru and him would tell them. 

Alex burst out laughing, “yes Takeru, tell us all how you met your girlfriend”

Takeru shoved Alex playfully before beginning, “He goes to school with me” 

Taka watched as the blood drain from Tomo and Ryota’s faces, and felt a pit in his stomach at the realisation neither of them would accept Toru and him as a couple. He averted his attention to Toru, who had his usual bored, expressionless face on. Taka heard someone repeat “he?” quietly, but wasn’t entirely sure who it was, and returned his gaze to Ryota and Tomo, who were somewhat smiling politely before Ryota suddenly began glaring at Taka. 

“Why are you staring at me?” Ryota groaned, looking at Taka. 

Taka mumbled awkwardly about not staring while Takeru and Alex were now both turned around to look at him. 

“I didn’t even know you were standing behind me like a creep” Takeru joked before turning back around. 

“I was mostly curious if Alex was gonna out you” Taka lied, returning his gaze to Toru, who was now giving a questioning look. 

Alex sighed as he stared at Taka, “someone told me publicly outing people is mean, unless you’re for public outings, in which case…” 

“Nope” Taka quickly responded before heading to the kitchen area and began making lunch for his friends. He heard the sound of laughter behind him and hoped that maybe it was just the shock that caused Ryota and Tomo's reactions. 

Toru soon joined him in the kitchen and leaned against the counter as Taka chopped vegetables. 

“What are they talking about?” Taka asked as he looked over at Toru. 

“Bonding over how much they hate me” Toru laughed. He went over to the fridge and got them both beers and placed it in front of Taka. 

“Don't you still have homework to do today?” Taka asked as he watched Toru drinking the beer. 

“I'm sure my history assignment will make just as much sense drunk as sober” Toru responded. 

“Day drinking?” Alex suddenly came up behind Toru and Taka, putting his arms around their shoulders. “Or plotting to get rid of the rest of us?” 

“Plotting to get rid of you” Taka muttered as he continued chopping the vegetables. 

“Aren't you just so glad I got here first to point out your vampire bite before anyone else could tease you” Alex laughed as he let them go and went to get a drink from Taka's fridge. 

Taka groaned as he gave Alex a dirty look and then continued chopping. He still hadn't gotten around to asking Toru if Alex actually did know about them, or if this was just remnant teasing from the date, and everything else Alex had walked in on the past week. 

* * *

Toru was stood in front of his locker, half asleep and cursing himself for thinking 1am band practices would ever be a good idea. He was practically dozing off before Alex sneaked up behind him and scared the shit out of him. 

Alex laughed hysterically as Toru let out a high pitched scream and made everyone in the hallway turn to face him. “Why so jumpy?” Alex said through laughter as he watched Toru clutch his chest. 

“You're gonna give me a heart attack you asshole” Toru groaned as he stared at Alex. 

“Thinking of a certain vocalist?” Alex teased, “does he have any more interesting bruises?” 

“No” Toru groaned. 

“Weren't you meant to be giving me regular updates on how your relationship is progressing?” Alex laughed. “Because unless he's cheating on you, I'd say it's getting much further physically than I thought”

Toru groaned as he stared at Alex without even answering. 

“Did you have sex?” Alex laughed, making suggestive eyebrows at Toru. 

“No” Toru groaned, “we didn't have sex. You'll be the first to know, ok?” 

Alex sighed as he glared at Toru, “what do two dudes to have fun that isn't sex then?”

Toru groaned again, trying to avoid Alex's glare. He didn't even know what it was called, and he sure as hell wasn't about to try and explain it to Alex. He saw Ryota coming up behind Alex and said hi, praying that Alex wasn't about to continue the conversation. 

Alex gave Toru a stare that probably meant “this conversation isn't over” before turning around to greet Ryota. 

“We should do band karaoke Friday” Ryota said out loud as Toru and Alex were staring at him. 

“Why?” Alex questioned. 

“Because it'd be fun” Ryota responded. 

“Fine” Toru sighed, “I'll talk to Taka after school” 

“You're going to his house again after school?” Ryota sighed as he crossed his arms. “You used to at least go home from school with me” 

“Stop being so jealous” Alex snickered as he looked at Ryota. 

“I'm not jealous, it's just weird how much time they spend together” Ryota groaned, “Taka's now even wearing Toru's clothes”

“What?” Alex laughed, looking between them. 

“Was he not wearing your sweater yesterday?” Ryota asked, looking at Toru. 

“I don't think he realised it was my sweater” Toru laughed, “he was cold, went into his room to get a sweater, and somehow grabbed mine” 

“Why would your sweater be in his room?” Ryota asked with a suggestive look. 

“I've been leaving random pieces of clothing of mine in his drawers” Toru laughed, “makes it easier when I stay over. I haven't told him yet and now i'm just waiting for him to notice” 

“Hmmm… sure that's the reason” Ryota smirked. 

Toru groaned as he glared at Ryota, “I'm not gay”

“I never said you were” Ryota laughed. “But you did once admit to liking him” 

“I was under duress and wanted you to shut up” Toru groaned. 

“Don't you ever get bored about teasing Toru about his man crush?” Alex stated, looking at Ryota. “It's kinda cruel to make fun of him for liking a straight guy” 

Toru sighed, trying to think of a way to answer that without admitting he does like Taka in front of Ryota. He was rather grateful when he heard a female voice calling out Alex's name and running up to him, distracting him from his thoughts. 

Toru looked at Ryota bizarrely as they watched Alex and the girl kiss before making a coughing noise to get their attention. 

“What Toru?” Alex sighed as he pulled away and glared at Toru. 

“Are you gonna introduce us?” Toru laughed. He assumed this was Hana, but didn't want to fuck anything up if it wasn't. He figured Alex would deserve whatever happened if Toru called her by the wrong name, but, Alex would probably retaliate by telling Ryota about his relationship. 

“Oh, yea. Hana. Toru, Ryota. Happy?” Alex sighed before going back to kissing Hana. 

“Can you do this somewhere else I actually need something from my locker before class” Toru groaned, looking at Alex. 

“Fine, you goddamn bore” Alex sighed before taking Hana's hand and walking away. 

“That was weird” Ryota noted as he watched them walk away. 

“Do you think they have an actual relationship or just like sex?” Toru laughed, looking at Ryota. 

Ryota smirked a bit, “probably just sex. I can't imagine anyone actually liking Alex for his personality”

“Maybe she's an alien and he wants to join her on Mars” Toru joked. 

“Maybe they're both aliens. She's from his home planet” Ryota added on. 

Toru laughed hysterically at that thought before bidding Ryota farewell and headed to class. 

* * *

Taka was awoken around 11am, only a few hours after Toru he woke up the first time. He heard the sound of knocking at the door, and stared at the clock, wondering who the hell would wake him up at this time. 

He sleepily walked over to the door, and opened it to Tomo at the other side. He blinked a bit and rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was seeing a hallucination of some kind. 

“I brought you food” Tomo smiled, holding a bag in his hands. 

“Am I still asleep?” Taka yawned. 

“No” Tomo responded, “I thought since you don't go to school anymore, and you cooked for me all weekend, I would bring you ramen for lunch” 

“Oh. Thanks” Taka said as he let Tomo into his apartment and yawned. 

“Did I wake you?” Tomo asked. “It's 11, I figured you'd be awake by now” 

Taka shrugged, “I woke up once at 7 when Toru got up, then fell back asleep. Anyway, don't you go to school with them?” 

“No I graduated last year” Tomo responded. 

“Weird. I thought you were younger than me for sure” Taka noted as he looked at Tomo and ate the ramen. 

“So what do you do all day while everyone else is at school?” Tomo asked, “does your friend Takeru come over?”

“No, he's younger than me. Still in school. He's really smart and, uh, didn't drop out like I did” Taka chuckled. 

Tomo nodded in response. He spent all day at Taka's house, listening to music, reading magazines, looking at pictures of food. 

Taka had lost track of time until he heard Toru open the front door and walked into the living area, looking at them weirdly. “Tomo's here?”

“Yea, I hung out with Taka all day” Tomo smiled. “I should probably go see Ryota now. Otherwise he'll call me a traitor something

“Wait, before you leave, Ryota wants to do band karaoke Friday, you down?” Toru asked. 

“Yea” Tomo responded before leaving, “thanks for having me over Taka” 

“Bye” Taka called out as Tomo left. 

Toru sat down next to Taka and rested against him. It felt like it had been so long since they were last alone in Taka's apartment for non-sleeping purposes.

“Aren't you gonna ask me about band karaoke?” Taka asked, looking at Toru. 

“Oh, it's mandatory band karaoke. You don't get a choice” Toru laughed. 

“But I don't wanna use my voice too much” Taka pouted, looking at Toru. 

“Then just go and get drunk with us” Toru laughed before kissing Taka's pouty mouth. Taka tried to deepen the kiss, but Toru pulled away and said he had to do homework. Taka scowled as he told Toru to just go do his homework and then laid down on the couch while Toru did his homework at the coffee table. 

Taka was falling asleep on the couch before he was woken up by Takeru entering the apartment. 

“Hey Taka” Takeru said as he moved Taka's legs and sat on the couch underneath them. 

“Stop waking me up” Taka groaned as he rolled over and tried to fall back asleep. 

“But I have a really good sex story and wanna tell you about it” Takeru whined as Taka sat up. 

“Fine. This better be a good story” Taka sighed. 

Takeru perked up as he began telling Taka about having sex in an empty classroom, possibly getting too graphic because Toru suddenly snapped. 

“Ok, that's a lot of information, I'm gonna go finish this assignment elsewhere…” he mumbled as he got up and brought the laptop to Taka's bedroom. 

“Ignore him, continue the story” Taka said as he watched Toru go into the bedroom. 

Takeru continued the story, as Taka stared at his bedroom door and wondered if Toru was squeamish because sex, or squeamish because gay sex. Takeru finished the story of accidentally finishing all over his homework and having to redo it as Taka died laughing. 

“Anyway, that's the main reason I dropped by. I'll bring him by tomorrow, but I'm gonna go get fucked again” Takeru smirked as he left Taka's apartment. 

Taka got up to lock the apartment door before going to his bedroom and laying down next to Toru who had gotten changed into his pjs and was doing homework. He rested his head on Toru's shoulder and stared at the screen as Toru finished his assignment. 

“You ok?” Toru asked as he shut the laptop and brought Taka to be laying on his chest. 

“I'm tired” Taka responded as he cuddled up on his boyfriend's chest. 

“You have no excuse” Toru laughed as he ruffled Taka's hair. “I've been at school all day”

“I've been with Tomo all day” Taka responded, “can we sleep before rehearsal?” 

“Sure” Toru chuckled as he got under the covers and Taka laid on top of him. Toru fell asleep immediately, but Taka laid on top of him unable to sleep. He wasn't sure why Toru suddenly snapped during Takeru's story earlier, and began worrying Toru was never really gay and just didn't want to hurt him again. He was always kind of uncomfortable during Alex's sex stories, and often cut him off, but never just walked out and left the room before. He decided to try and bury those thoughts, eventually falling asleep with Toru.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toru and Taka are unable to keep their hands off each other. Taka tries to win over Tomo and Ryota's friendship. Ryota is irritated Taka is stealing Tomo next. Tomo is curious in knowing why Toru and Taka are weird to each other. Because they're both definitely not gay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Housekeeping:  
> I'm changing ther rating to explicit. Especially for later chapters. ;)  
> There's two sexy scenes in the chapter. I tried to break it into two shorter chapters, but one of them felt like filler, so whatever. Combined into one chapter  
> There's gonna be more regular updates. Probably back to daily-ish. The fic is almost finished being written (and is LONG AS HELL. At least another 44,000 words including this chapter)

Tomo and Taka were sat around his apartment the next day. Tomo was reading through magazines while Taka was writing a song and attempting to play guitar.

Toru showed up in the afternoon and tried to correct Taka's fingering on the guitar. They giggled with each other every few minutes, apparently oblivious to Tomo still in the room. Even though he was sat right next to Taka, reading through his cookbook and bookmarking pages, trying to pretend not to notice this bizzare interaction.

They were disrupted when Takeru and Haruma walked into the apartment without knocking. Taka put down the guitar and put on his intimidation act to meet Takeru's boyfriend. Tomo almost jumped at how scary Taka was, when just minutes ago he was giggling like a schoolgirl with her crush. Tomo put that thought out of his head as soon as he realised Taka would most definitely kill him for even thinking he liked Toru.

“Soo friends plus Toru” Takeru started, “this is my boyfriend Haruma. Haruma, these are my friends Taka, Tomo, and Taka's friend Toru”

Tomo felt a bit shocked at being part of the friend category, while Toru was cast aside as “Taka's friend”. Then he remembered Toru and Takeru had some kind of bizarre rivalry going on in a similar way to Taka and Ryota and figured it was probably just that.

Taka began grilling Haruma, questioning everything about him like a concerned parent meeting their child's partner for the first time. Tomo and Toru both sat idly by as Haruma answered all of Taka's questions, starting to feel a bit scared of Taka.

“oook Taka, I think you've asked enough questions” Toru laughed as he put his hand on Taka's shoulder.

“No, I need to make sure he's good for Takeru” Taka responded.

“Is this the couple that we're going out for dinner with tomorrow?” Haruma asked, nodding to Taka and Toru.

Takeru chuckled at that, looking at Taka and Toru suddenly going red and embarrassed as Taka tried to shrug Toru's hand off his shoulder.

“No, we're not a couple” Taka responded quickly, trying to laugh off the awkward tension in the room. 

“They're both straight, I think” Takeru laughed a bit, “we're going out with my friend Alex and his girlfriend Hana. I haven't met her yet”

“Have fun watching them suck face for an hour” Toru laughed, followed by anxiety as he noticed Takeru giving him a death glare for initiating conversation.

“You met Hana?” Tomo asked, looking at Toru.

“She ran up to Alex, they made out in front of my locker, then left” Toru answered awkwardly. “Not sure that counts as a meeting. Ryota and I think it may be more physical than emotional…"

“They're probably just in the honeymoon part of a relationship when you want to do nothing but kiss all day” Taka sighed, looking over at Toru.

“And fuck” Takeru added on as Taka chuckled.

“Speaking of Ryota, I should probably go see him before he realises I've been here all day” Tomo said as he got up to go. He said bye to everyone in the apartment and left for the night.

“Yea, we should go as well” Takeru responded. “The three of us will hang out sometime?”

“Definitely” Taka responded as Haruma said bye to Taka and Toru, Takeru ignored Toru, and then left.

Taka got up, locked the door behind them, then sat back down on the couch against Toru.

“So what's the part of the relationship where you just want to kiss all day?” Toru asked, looking at Taka.

“You know, when everything's new and exciting, and all I want to do is kick our bandmates out of the apartment and get you in bed” Taka responded.

“We have no bandmates here right now” Toru pointed out.

“Then why are we still on my couch?” Taka laughed before getting up and heading to the bedroom.

Toru laughed as he followed Taka into the bedroom and immediately pushed him back onto the bed, crawling over top of him before pulling him into a deep kiss. Toru began taking off his uniform, mostly out of fear he'd have to deal with a sticky mess in it.

Taka watched in shock as Toru was unbuttoning his shirt, with his hips straddling Taka's. He had seen Toru shirtless a few times, but never in this scenario. There was that time Toru took off Taka's shirt, but Taka freaked out and stopped him immediately after. Taka figured he should just take off his own shirt, out of some kind of fairness.

“Oh, I just didn't want to mess up my uniform” Toru said awkwardly when he noticed Taka was also now shirtless.

“Oh” Taka responded awkwardly. “Wouldn't it be weird if you were shirtless and i wasn't though?”

“I was also probably gonna take off my pants…” Toru admitted. “If that's ok”

Taka nodded and began taking off Toru's pants. He tossed them to the side of his bed, along with their shirts and stared down at Toru's fitted boxer briefs on. Before he even had time to think about getting Toru completely naked, or about how Toru's erection was practically bursting out of his underwear, Toru pushed Taka back onto his back and began removing Taka's sweatpants.

Toru used his tongue, exploring Taka's mouth. He felt Taka's hands going all over his back, scratching him as they made their way to Toru's hips. He continued kissing Taka, occasionally biting on his lower lip, running his hands through Taka's bushy brown hair. Toru let out a loud groan as Taka's hands were cupping his crotch, gently stroking it through his boxer briefs.

Toru decided fuck it, and reached his hands into Taka's boxer briefs, stroking Taka's member, listening to the sounds of Taka groaning in pleasure. He felt Taka's hands inside his own underwear, and decided to just remove both their boxers, for ease of movement, or at least that's what he told himself. 

Taka pulled away for a few seconds, curious about what Toru's penis looked like hardened. He licked his lips in anticipation and realised Toru was staring at his dick.

"Fucking pervert" Taka joked upon realising Toru was looking at him.

"Shut up, you're staring too" Toru laughed, leaning back down to kiss Taka deeply. His breath hitched as he felt Taka's hand on his dick once again. He was propping himself up with his left forearm above Taka's head, his right arm gripping on Taka's other head.

"Fu...ck… Toru…" Taka whimpered, losing himself in the feeling of Toru getting him off. He bit down on Toru's bottom lip, sucking it as he felt himself getting closer to climax.

Toru could barely hold himself up anymore, his left arm felt like it was about give way, his right arm was tired from the repetitive movement. He decided to just forego the hand job, and began dry humping Taka.

Taka moaned and writhed in pleasure as Toru kissed him desperately, their exposed pensises rubbing together. He dug his nails into Toru's back, and heard Toru's breathing getting heavier as he began thrusting back. Taka could feel himself getting closer and closer with every thrust and moan coming from Toru. He pulled Toru closer, put his arms around his back and dug his nails in harder. "I'm so close, Toru" he groaned, reaching up to kiss Toru again.

"Fuck" Toru groaned into Taka's ear, "cum with me Taka"

Taka felt himself climax, followed by a slow relaxation of all his muscles. Toru followed next, the white sticky liquid mixing together on Taka's stomach.

Toru smiled down at Taka, completely out of breath, kissing him again before grabbing the box of kleenex on the bedside table. They both cleaned themselves off before laying back down in bed. Taka rolled over to lay on top of Toru, exhausted

"That was good" Toru mused as he pulled the covers on top of them both. The cold air in Taka's apartment was beginning to feel a bit too cold against their sweaty skin.

"You were good" Taka chuckled, kissing Toru again before completely falling asleep in post coital bliss.

* * *

Taka and Toru slept naked in bed until they had just enough time to go to rehearsal and stop for food along the way. They stopped at a 711 for onigiri on the way before continuing to rehearsal.

The rest of the members were already there, waiting for Toru and Taka who were only 5 minutes early.

“You're practically late” Alex shrieked as Toru and Taka walked in the studio.

“Shut up” Taka sighed as he sat on the ground next to Tomo. “Shouldn't you be setting up your guitar rather than playing with your phone?”

“I already set up my guitar, because I got here on time dumbass” Alex sighed. “I'm texting Takeru about our plans for tomorrow”

“Oh yea. I met Haruma, he seems nice” Taka nodded.

“Then why did you interrogate him?” Tomo laughed in response.

“Because Takeru can sometimes be a dumbass who doesn't know how to pick men” Taka responded.

“You met Takeru's boyfriend?” Ryota asked, looking at Tomo.

Tomo tensed up and mumbled over his words. “I uh, met him, uh…”

“He met him at Taka's house” Toru sighed  answering for Tomo. “Apparently Tomo is Takeru's good friend yet I'm not”

“Jealous?” Alex smirked as Toru rolled his eyes.

“Why were you at Taka's?” Ryota asked, looking at Tomo.

“I was bored, and um, food…” Tomo responded, trying to avoid Ryota's eye contact.

“Great, first he stole Toru, then Alex, now he's on his way to you..” Ryota sighed as he gave Taka a death glare.

“In all fairness, Alex comes over to piss me off, not because he's my friend” Taka tried to laugh off Ryota's remarks.

“I thought you just said the other day we were friends, Taka?” Alex sighed.

“You're still trying to steal them from me…” Ryota noted.

Taka sighed heavily before responding, “I'm not stealing them from you. We're all in a band together. It only makes sense that we'd all get along. You can come over sometime too if you're so pissed off your friends are over”

* * *

Taka and Tomo were sat around his apartment for the third day of the week. Toru arrived after school, with Ryota in tow. Taka was slightly upset that this meant that him and Toru wouldn't be getting the apartment to themselves, but decided he could put up with company in hopes that him and Toru could have a nice night without rehearsal afterwards. Toru and Ryota both sat on the coffee table while Tomo and Taka were both sprawled at opposite ends of the couch.

“What do you think the odds are that Alex and Hana are gonna make out the entire date?” Toru jokingly asked, trying to think of a good conversation.

“Very high” Ryota laughed, “I saw them making out in the hallway again this morning”

“I wanna meet her” Tomo whined, “when do I get to meet her?”

“I don't know, ask Alex” Toru laughed.

“He should invite her to the live on Saturday” Taka stated, “I need to judge her”

“I highly doubt they'll make it to Saturday” Ryota responded, glaring at Taka.

“We should make a betting pool on when they'll break up” Toru smirked before Taka could give any pushback to Ryota. 

Taka sighed, “have you all never been in a relationship where for the first few days you just want to rip their clothes off and kiss them every time you see them? Maybe we should stop judging Alex about his private life”

Toru could have sworn Taka was looking directly at him for that, and began having indecent thoughts about ripping off Taka's clothes and kissing him right now. He was only brought out of his train of thoughts when Ryota began speaking again.

“No, because none of us have ever had a girlfriend you idiot” Ryota sighed. “Besides, why would she even like Alex for his personality”

Taka shrugged, “he has his moments”

“Maybe you should date him then” Ryota muttered under his breath.

Taka groaned loudly, “why the fuck-”

Toru kicked Taka's shin and gave him a look, then elbowed Ryota in the ribs hard. “How about tonight we try not to make any nasty comments about each other?”

“He started it” Taka groaned, looking at Toru.

“He's just trying to wind you up” Toru sighed. “He'll say something, you'll kick off, then he gets to storm out and claim you're the one being mean”

“That's not what I do” Ryota groaned.

“I mean... it kind of is” Tomo said quietly.

“Whose side are you on?” Ryota asked, looking at Tomo.

“The band's?” Tomo replied awkwardly, thinking of a new subject. “What are we doing for dinner?”

“I'll make ramen” Taka responded before getting up to get a beer and begin making the ramen.

Taka made ramen on his own as the rest of the group sat in relative silence reading magazines.

The rest of the night was rather uneventful, they ate dinner in relative peace, had random talks about the band, and continued debating the legitimacy of Alex's relationship.

“When are we going home?” Ryota asked. He was perched on the coffee table as Toru was half asleep on Taka's couch.

“Anytime you want” Taka responded.

“I wasn't asking you, you idiot” Ryota sighed heavily.

“Stop fighting” Toru groaned. He sat up straight to deal with any potential kickoffs.

“We should get home, Toru” Ryota said, looking at Toru.

“I'm just gonna stay here tonight” Toru responded.

“I'll stay here too, then” Ryota responded.

Taka sighed, “why”

“Why does Toru stay here every night?” Ryota asked.

“I don't know, ask him” Taka responded, “but I suppose, if you want to sleep on the floor, be my guest”

“Why would I sleep on the floor? There's a perfectly good couch” Ryota smiled.

“Because Toru sleeps on the couch…?” Taka lied.

“I thought he sleeps in your bed with you?” Ryota raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Tomo choked on his beer at that, causing everyone to look at him. He couldn't quite figure out why people kept suggesting Toru and Taka were more than friendly with each other, but decided once again to put the thoughts out of his head in fear of Taka killing him. He mumbled something about it going down the wrong pipe and let them continue their conversation.

“Who the hell even told you that?” Taka groaned.

“Toru” Ryota smiled.

“Alex told you that” Toru groaned, trying his best to ignore the daggers Taka's eyes were shooting at him.

“And then you confirmed it” Ryota pointed it.

“It's a big bed. Fits two people comfortably” Toru groaned. “You can literally go in there and check for yourself”

Ryota actually did take the opportunity to enter Taka's bedroom, followed by everyone else. He saw the king bed in the centre of the room, and did admit defeat when Taka and Toru actually laid down on the bed with their backs facing each other as some kind of demonstration.

“Fine, I believe you” Ryota groaned, “I'll go back to the dorm with Tomo then”

“I have to leave too?” Tomo asked, looking at Ryota.

“Yes. You can sleep in Toru's bed” Ryota responded.

Tomo sighed, then decided to just follow Ryota home.

“I hope they don't make a habit of this” Taka groaned as he got into bed beside Toru.

“You're the one who invited Ryota over” Toru laughed, rolling onto his side to face his boyfriend. He felt a bit guilty for always staying at Taka's, but Taka's bed was so comfy. And there was the added benefit being able to hold Taka while he sleeps on his chest. 

“I didn't think he was actually gonna come” Taka admitted. “what if he always comes here after school and never leaves until we all leave for rehearsal?”

“I thought you wanted to get along with him” Toru pointed out.

“But we'll barely have anytime to hang out on  our own” Taka whined. “It takes too much energy to not pin you down on the couch when they're around”

"You can pin me down right now if you want" Toru laughed, resting his forehead against Taka's.

"I kinda prefer it when you pin me down…" Taka admitted, followed by Toru rolling them both over to be on top.

"You mean like this?" Toru asked, kissing Taka and thrusting their groins together.

Taka nodded, feeling the pressure of Toru on top of him, rubbing against him sending shooting pleeasure through his entire body. Taka let out a loud groan, pressing his head back against his pillow as Toru continued rutting against him helplessly.

Toru kissed Taka's exposed neck, hearing him call out his name over and over again. Toru wasn’t sure when this became their nightly routine, getting into bed together and doing… whatever this was. But he loved the way Taka would dig his nails into his back, scratching harder as he left numerous love bites along his neck, moaning his name. Taka's voice was so breathy and raspy, probably warn out from all the screaming and moaning he had been doing since whenever they started rubbing themselves against each other. He wasn't sure how long it had actually been, debating if he wanted to get naked again to rub their dicks together. His thin sweatpants felt abrasive, rubbing against his member, but something about the abrasiveness made it better, feeling the friction between their bodies. Before he could even think of taking of their pants, Taka's moaning turned needier, his nails digging deeper into Toru's back. Toru knew those signs, Taka was close to climax, he moved his mouth from the vocalist's neck to his mouth, inching closer himself. The kiss was sloppy as hell, both so close to completion.

Taka suddenly pulled Toru closer to him, burying his face in Toru's neck. Not even biting it, just holding him closer. Toru loved how he could always tell Taka was about to be finished based on his body language. He heard Taka let out a final, low groan from his throat, followed by heavy breathing. Taka's face and voice in the moments of climax were enough on its own for Toru to also let go, give in to the feeling. He collapsed on top of Taka, not caring he was probably crushing the small man underneath him.

Taka was breathing heavily, watching as Toru came apart on top of him, when suddenly his heavy body fell on top of Taka's. Taka chuckled, feeling crushed by Toru, but also feeling incredibly smug, thinking he made Toru feel so good he actually couldn't steady himself above him. "Was that good?"

"Yes" Toru responded, his voice low in Taka's ear.

"Good" Taka answered, his voice still raspy. "Now as much as I love the pressure of you on top of me whilst you dry hump me, you are actually kinda heavy and cracking my ribs"

Toru smiled, kissing Taka's cheek, "we should probably change our pants anyway…"

"Probably" Taka agreed, watching Toru get up and take off his pants. "Although why change? We could just sleep naked…"

Toru laughed, taking off his shirt as well before laying in bed as Taka removed the rest of his clothes. "I've never slept naked before"

"I only started sleeping in pjs when you started sharing a bed with me" Taka responded, kissing Toru, "pjs are so goddamn uncomfortable. Bunching up while I sleep…"

"Oh, sorry, you could have slept naked the entire time if you wanted, I wouldn't complain" Toru laughed as he pulled Taka to lay on his chest.

"Shut up you perv" Taka murmured, kissing Toru's chest.

"You like how pervy I am" Toru laughed back, stroking Taka's bare back with his hand. 

"I do, yea" Taka laughed weakly before falling asleep on Toru.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when this was meant to be a wholesome fic? Soooorrrry :)


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex tells Taka to tell everyone about him and Toru. But Taka says he's not gay. Tomo tries to ask Taka about Toru. Taka is a needy, clingy sap.

Ryota did indeed show up at Taka's house the rest of the week after school. Taka was beginning to get irritated, mostly because a lack of alone time with Toru. But it was band karaoke tonight, so Taka prayed it could end before 3am so him and Toru could have a nice night in bed, not too tired to even dry hump and kiss.

He tried his best to put his irritation behind him and drowned himself in beer and drunk food at the karaoke booth. He was trying to avoid singing, to avoid ruining his voice for the next day. So if he had to listen to these four idiots singing badly, he figured he at least needed some kind of alcohol to make the experience more enjoyable.

Taka watched as the rest of them sang loudly to songs he vaguely heard of, mostly Western songs. Toru was getting considerably more and more drunk, kept ordering beers. Then he got hungry and wanted food to go with the beer, then beer to wash down the food. After a few hours Taka had lost track of how many beers his boyfriend had drunk. Taka noticed Alex also noticing how drunk Toru was and began trying to convince him to stop drinking. Toru eventually agreed, and stumbled outside the building as Taka took care of the bill.

When Taka got outside, Toru was completely gone. He looked exhausted, half asleep, hanging off of Ryota's shoulder.

Taka walked up to the group and put his arm around Toru, “wanna just go back to my place? It's closer”

Toru rested his head against Taka's but made no reply.

“He's drunk, he should just go home” Ryota groaned, looking at Taka.

“My apartment's closer, it'll be easier to get him there…” Taka tried reasoning.

“But he should go to his own bed, get a good night sleep” Ryota fought back.

“My apartment has an elevator. If he we take him to your place-”

“His place” Ryota corrected him.

“If we take him to _his_ place, we'll have to carry him up the stairs” Taka groaned, “it'll be easier on everyone if we just bring him to my place”

Alex watched as the fight was breaking out between Ryota and Taka and decided to intervene, “Taka's place makes more sense. I don't wanna have to carry him up the stairs”

“I'm awaaaake... and able waaaalk…. to taaaka” Toru slurred as he continued resting himself on Taka.

“Fine. Taka can carry you home then” Ryota groaned, letting go of Toru, “Tomo and I can just go back to your room”

Tomo said bye before awkwardly before following Ryota to his dorm room.

Alex groaned loudly, then walked towards Toru and held him up, afraid he would overpower Taka and collapse on the way back to Taka's.

Toru swayed back and forth between Taka and Alex, but did manage to make it to Taka's apartment in one piece. Alex helped Taka carry him all the way to his bedroom, got him in the drunk position. Taka thanked him as Alex was about to leave. He then turned around, and looked straight at Taka.

“Not that it's any of my business, but it would be easier for everyone if you just told Ryota about your relationship”

“I'm not-”

“Don't even bother trying to pull the ‘I'm not gay’ card” Alex groaned, “I already told you. Toru told me you're his boyfriend. And it'd make my life a hell of a lot easier if you two just told everyone else that as well”

Taka glared as Alex left the apartment, unsure how to respond. He opted to just lay down in bed and spoon his boyfriend, mentally debating the pros and cons of telling others before sleep took over him.

* * *

The next morning, Taka was making coffee and rice for Toru. Toru was protesting, saying he felt fine, he doesn't get hangovers, but Taka was mostly amazed he could drink to the point of passing out, then feel fine 8 hours later. So they both ate breakfast together, only to be interrupted by Takeru and Haruma.

They sat themselves on the coffee table as Taka quickly cleaned dishes before joining them at the couch area. Toru begrudgingly followed Taka to the couch, sitting next to him and bracing himself for whatever snide comments Takeru had for him today.

“How was the double date?” Taka asked, “I don't think I've seen you since then”

“We approve of Hana” Haruma responded.

“Did they just kiss the entire time?” Toru asked, “I swear I haven't even seen her not attached to his mouth”

“No” Takeru responded, “she was nice, and Alex was also nice to her? It was weird”

“Maybe Toru and Ryota are lying about the excessive making out” Taka laughed, getting a dirty look from his boyfriend.

“Probably” Takeru agreed.

Toru rolled his eyes as he heard the front door opening, he watched as Alex walked into the room with a girl who was presumably Hana. He barely recognised her when she wasn't attached to Alex at the mouth, but Takeru and Haruma were both greeting her by her name. Toru scooched over to be closer to Taka, allowing Alex to sit on the far end of the couch and Hana next to him. She immediately got comfortable, cuddling against Alex on the couch, but at the very least, not making out right next to him.

“Are you gonna introduce us or do you now just bring randoms into my apartment without knocking?” Taka asked, looking at Alex.

Alex sighed, “right. Forgot that you're dumb as a brick. This is my girlfriend Hana. Hana, that's Taka”

Hana waved awkwardly, as Taka said hi.

Awkward silence ensued before Ryota and Tomo entered next. They looked at the full couch, then Ryota sat next to Takeru and Tomo on the other side of him, directly across from Taka.

“Is this… Hana?” Tomo asked nervously, looking at the girl currently draped over top of Alex. “I'm Tomo”

“Ohh, the drummer?” Hana asked, looking at Tomo.

Toru nudged Taka, “holy shit they do have conversations”, he whispered in his boyfriend's ear.

Taka let out a quiet chuckle, then realised Ryota was giving him a death glare and opted to stare at the ground. He thought maybe it would be easier if him and Toru told everyone about their relationship.

Then Takeru rested his head on Haruma's shoulder as Haruma rested his hand on his knee. Taka watched as Ryota and Tomo both had a visibly uncomfortable look on their faces. His heart sank, knowing they would probably have the exact same reaction if Taka were to do the same action with Toru. He also felt Toru tense up beside him. He looked over and saw Toru had a similar uncomfortable face Tomo and Ryota were sporting.

“Does anyone want beer? I want beer…” Taka said as he got up, planning to head to the kitchen.

“No drinking before lives, Taka. You know the rules” Toru called out, causing Taka to turn around and sit back on the couch.

“Don't you have homework to do?” Taka groaned, looking at Toru. “Don't you all have homework to be doing?”

Everyone mumbled a bit as they got up to go do homework, leaving Taka alone with Toru and Tomo.

“Ryota's gonna kill you for choosing us for him” Toru laughed, looking at Tomo.

“That's a good point…” Tomo responded, “I'll see you two in a few hours”

Taka locked the door behind them, then curled up on the couch.

"Are you ok?" Toru asked, looking at Taka curling up, half asleep on the opposite end of the couch.

"I'm tired. You do your homework" Taka responded, yawning for emphasis.

Toru sighed heavily, unsure if Taka was in a bad mood or actually just tired. He decided to ignore his homework and nap with Taka. He laid on his back on the opposite end of the couch, then asked Taka to come lay on him.

Taka sighed before getting up, and laying down on his boyfriend's chest. He closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. He felt Toru's hand on his back, underneath his shirt, stroking him as if he knew Taka was actually upset and not tired. Taka was indeed comforted, and eventually fell asleep, putting his thoughts of Toru having some kind of… problem with gay pda out of his mind.

* * *

As usual, Ryota and Tomo got dinner after sound check before the band actually performed. Alex was texting with Hana while laying on a couch, Toru and Taka were sitting on the ground in front of.

“So Taka, have you thought about when you plan on telling everyone about you and Toru?” Alex asked, looking down at Toru and Taka.

“What?” Toru asked, wondering when Taka and Alex had this conversation.

“Wouldn't it be sooo much easier if you two could just admit the reason you spend ungodly amounts of time together is to have sex, not because you hate the rest of us?” Alex asked.

“We're not having sex” Toru groaned, “how many times have I told you that?”

“Fine. Fine. I'm sure you two _just_ kiss and cuddle, like a boring old couple” Alex laughed. “That's why Taka kicked us all out, right?”

“No, I kicked you all out because I was tired of seeing Ryota and Tomo coil in disgust everytime Takeru and Haruma touched each other” Taka admitted, leaving out the part where Toru did as well.

“So when are you telling them?” Alex asked again.

“Did you miss the part where Tomo and Ryota were visibly uncomfortable with Takeru and Haruma?” Taka asked, looking back at Alex. “Ryota already hates me, I don't wanna make him hate me even more”

“Good point, Ryota already gets pissy whenever the topic of our date comes up. He'd probably claim you're corrupting me or something” Toru laughed.

“Is that a never?” Alex groaned.

“Whenever Ryota eventually warms up to me” taka responded, “once I get along with him, we'll tell him"

“When you two really do get along and it's not just a temporary lull in the feud” Toru added.

“Fine” Alex groaned. 

* * *

It had become a daily ritual. Tomo would show up to Taka's apartment for lunch, they would hang out together, have random discussions, then Toru would show up after school. Tomo would then retreat to Ryota's dorm room until rehearsal. Occasionally Alex would pop by, more often Takeru and Haruma would show up.

Toru stopped by Taka's as usual, and watched Tomo get up to leave. “Ryota's getting help with his math homework. He'll be done around 7, you don't need to leave”

Tomo sat back down on the couch beside Taka as Toru sat back on the other side. “So what have you two been doing all day?”

“Food. Magazines. Music” Taka responded. “How was school?”

“Boring” Toru sighed. “I hate studying”

“Well you're gonna study” Taka laughed as he looked at Toru.

“Right. Right. Can't have two dropouts in the band” Toru sighed. “But it's so boring”

“Precisely. Now go study” Taka laughed.

Toru groaned every step between the couch and Taka's bedroom, going to grab his laptop. He sat back down next to Taka, and began doing his assignment.

Taka and Tomo returned to reading through magazines and cookbooks as Toru groaned about them having fun right in front of him.

“You know, you can always do your homework in your own dorm room” Taka joked, looking at his sulking boyfriend.

“Ryota would probably be reeaallly happy if you showed up there randomly” Tomo added.

“He's being tutored right now, he's not even there” Toru responded.

“And wouldn't it be really nice if you were there when he got home?” Tomo laughed, “like a surprise homecoming”

Toru groaned, then packed up his laptop in his backpack.

“Are you actually leaving?” Taka asked, looking up at Toru confused. He didn't actually want Toru to leave, he was just teasing.

“Yea, I'll see you both at 1?” Toru responded, looking down at Taka.

“Yea, see you then” Taka responded, feeling slightly miffed that Toru was leaving for the night. He knew this meant for sure he wasn't going to be getting any kisses and cuddles before rehearsal.

Tomo said bye in his usual cheerful tone, going back to looking through Taka's growing cookbook collection.

“Are you ok with ramen for dinner?” Taka asked casually before getting up to go get beer for himself.

“You don't need to cook me dinner” Tomo responded.

“Well I was gonna cook dinner for Toru, but it seems he's not having dinner here, so you may as well eat his dinner” Taka responded bitterly, sitting back down on the couch with his beer.

“Uh, yea, ramen's good then” Tomo responded nervously, noting how Taka's mood took a sudden downturn. “are you ok?”

“why wouldn't I be” Taka groaned, drinking his beer.

Tomo felt terrified of Taka, suddenly afraid he was going to rip his head off. He wondered if Toru ever felt this scared of Taka when they were together. “You just seem like you're suddenly in a bad mood…”

“I'm not in a bad mood” Taka huffed.

“You've been in a bad mood ever since Toru left” Tomo pointed out.

Taka sighed, “I didn't think he was actually going to leave”

“But you told him to…” Tomo pointed out. “Why do you care where he studies?”

Taka suddenly stiffened up, realising he really shouldn't care where Toru chooses to study. Even if his main gripe was that Toru was going to be gone all night until rehearsal. He decided to let his negative feelings go, because he really didn't want to deal with Tomo questioning him about his relationship with Toru. “I don't care where he studies”

“Then why are you suddenly so mad?” Tomo pushed, afraid of what kind of reaction Taka was going to give.

“I'm not mad” Taka sighed. “I just… nevermind”

“What's going on with you and Toru.” Tomo asked. He had been wanting to ask ever since Taka had such a weird reaction to Haruma's comment a month ago, but never got around to it. He was terrified of Taka going back to his scary state, and kicking Tomo out.

Taka stared nervously, unsure what Tomo knew and who told Tomo anything. “We're friends? I like spending time with him. Just how I like spending time with you or Takeru”

Tomo nodded cautiously, he was fairly certain Taka seemed excessively nervous about the topic but decided to drop it. He wasn't even sure what he thought that answer would be, surely he would know if his two friends were… dating? He put the thoughts out of his head and went back to magazines for a few hours before rehearsal.

* * *

Toru and Ryota were already at the studio when Taka and Tomo showed up. Tomo got himself set up as Taka sat on the floor. Toru decided to sit down next to Taka, causing Taka to physically flinch. He didn't think it was that obvious, but Toru was looking at him with a look of confusion. Taka then got up and decided to just wait for Alex to show up whilst leaning against a wall.

Toru looked at Taka weirdly, trying to decipher why he would just get up from the floor to stand against a wall. Surely he wasn't mad that Toru left his apartment to study with Ryota, right? That would be a dumb reason to be mad. Toru's thoughts were broken by Alex walking into the room, setting up his guitar, then the band began to practice.

All through the practice, Taka was extra distant from Toru. He would shy away whenever Toru had any corrections, flinch whenever Toru got too near to him, then was extra critical of Toru's guitar. Toru was so confused what he did wrong to make taka so angry.

After rehearsal, Ryota asked Toru if he was going to be at the dorm room that night. Toru looked over at Taka for some kind of confirmation of whether or not Taka wanted him to stay over, and noticed Taka was seemingly uninterested, playing with his phone as everyone else packed up. Since Taka seemingly didn't care, and Ryota really did seem to care, Toru decided to just go with Ryota. But first, he decided to pull Taka off to the side and ask what the hell he did wrong. Tomo and Alex had both already left, so he told Ryota to just wait outside the room and he'd join in a few minutes. Ryota thought that was weird, but Taka was seemingly weird all night, and decided to just do as he was told.

“What did I do wrong?” Toru asked as soon Ryota left the room.

“Nothing” Taka smiled before reaching up to kiss Toru. “I'll see you tomorrow after school?”

Toru looked at Taka with a great deal of confusion, wondering why the sudden mood swing. But he figured Taka's always having weird mood swings, and opted to just kiss him. “I'll be there at my usual time”

“Ok. Bye” Taka said with twinge of sadness in his voice, causing Toru to turn around.

“That’s wrong, Taka?” Toru asked, staring at Taka.

Taka sighed, he may as well give in. “It’s been a while since I last slept on my own”

“I already told Ryota I'd stay in the dorm room tonight” Toru responded, stroking Taka's arm, “I'll see you immediately after school though. And stay with you tomorrow night”

Taka nodded, hugging Toru tightly. He hated that Toru made him into some kind of clingy sap, but when he tried to not act like a clingy sap, Toru thought he was mad. So he gave in to his inner clingy sap, and held onto Toru tightly, not wanting to let go.

"Ryota's gonna wonder why I'm taking so long" Toru laughed awkwardly, still hugging Taka.

"Fine. Go. You'll be by after school?" Taka asked, smiling up at toru.

"Of course" Toru responded, kissing Taka before leaving. "Good night"

"Good night" Taka responded, kissing Toru one last time.

* * *

 

 Toru got into bed immediately upon reaching the dorm. He tried to think about anything he could have done to piss Taka off, but came up dry.

“Is Taka mad at you for being here?” Ryota asked as soon as he got into his bed.

“No” Toru responded, “why?”

“He was acting weirdly tonight” Ryota answered. “I assume he's pissed for you choosing me over him”

“I didn't choose you over him” Toru groaned, “and I never choose him over you. You're both my friends”

“Then why do you always stay at his house rather than here?" Ryota asked.

Toru sighed, trying to think of a good excuse. "He gets lonely. You have 20 people to talk to 3 metres away from us, he doesn't have that same thing. When he's lonely, he has no one there for him"

"Why doesn't he just go visit his parents or something?" Ryota groaned, "it's not your job to deal with his loneliness"

Toru groaned, "he's my friend, I like spending time with him. Also he never pissed me off when I'm trying to sleep"

"Point taken" Ryota groaned, "good night"

"Good night" Toru responded, rolling over to face away from Ryota and tried to figure out other reasons for Taka being moody. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tomo thinks he caused a fight between Toru and Taka.   
> Toru thinks Taka's mad at him.   
> Taka is irritated that Toru reacts weirdly to gay sex stories.   
> Tomo begins to refine his Toru and Taka theory.   
> But Toru isn't gay. Hmmmm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just finished writing the (tentative) last scene of this fic... just gotta add in some random parts I skipped over out of laziness. Still another 40,000ish words to publish though woooah

Tomo showed up the next day, and found Taka wasn't asleep on the couch for once. He was sitting on it, writing a song and playing guitar.

“You're already awake?” Tomo asked nervously.

“Yea, Toru didn't stay here last night, so I actually got a full sleep rather than being woken up halfway through” Taka responded.

Tomo nodded awkwardly, feeling bad that he may have caused a rift between Taka and Toru. “Are you two having a fight?”

Taka sighed heavily, Takeru had finally stopped teasing him about Toru, and now Tomo was questioning them. “No, he just wanted to stay at the dorm last night. I assume Ryota probably asked him to for whatever reason”

“So you're not trying to avoid him because of… what I asked yesterday?” Tomo asked awkwardly.

“No” Taka sighed, “just drop it. What do you want for lunch? I was thinking I wanna try making tonkatsu…”

Tomo was still confused what exactly was going on between Taka and Toru, but decided to drop it for the sake of food. He figured if something was going on between Taka and Toru, they would probably tell him?

Toru showed up after school as usual, and Tomo left to go meet up with Ryota. He locked the door behind Tomo, and sat next to Taka on the couch.

“How was school?” Taka asked, resting himself against Toru. While he did enjoy getting a full sleep, he really did miss cuddling with Toru during the night. He tried to relish in the feeling as Toru put his arms around him and rested his head on Taka's.

“Usual. Boring as hell” Toru responded, “are you ok?”

Taka groaned, he had had enough of Tomo's questions and didn't want to deal with Toru's as well. “Yes. Why do people keep asking me that?”

“Because you were moody as hell at rehearsal yesterday?” Toru responded.

“I wasn't moody” Taka groaned, “people were just pissing me off”

“Was I pissing you off? You kept flinching away from me. Even Ryota asked if we were having a fight” Toru sighed. “You need to act normal around me, even if we are having a fight”

“We're not having a fight” Taka groaned.

“Then why were you so short with me last night?” Toru asked, trying to comfort Taka by stroking the side of his stomach.

“Tomo's onto us” Taka admitted. “He was asking me what's going on between us, if we're having a row. We can't keep acting all touchy feely in front of others”

Toru sighed, he didn't want to deal with telling everyone. “What did you tell him?”

“That we're just friends” Taka responded, “I don't wanna tell anyone yet”

“Neither do I” Toru admitted, “it's bad enough Alex breathing down my neck every second. But we do still need to go back to normal around others. It'll be more suspicious if we suddenly start acting cold to each other”

Taka nodded, knowing deep down that Toru was right. They never suddenly _started_ acting touchy feely, they were _always_ excessively close with each other. Even before they started dating, so it made sense they should just continue as normal rather than trying to regulate their behaviour.

"So what are you making me for dinner?" Toru smirked, looking at Taka.

"I don't know" Taka admitted, "ramen probably. I'm lazy"

Toru laughed as he stroked Taka's hair, "you're not lazy. You just offered to make me dinner"

"Actually I think you told me to…" Taka responded. "It's a good thing you're hot, otherwise I may not make you food anymore"

Toru smirked, then kissed Taka before heading to the kitchen to help with dinner.

* * *

Toru and Taka were sat around his apartment, as usual on a Friday afternoon. And as usual, Alex came and interrupted them.

"Isn't it prime date night?" Taka sighed, watching as Alex sat down on his usual spot on the coffee table. Taka and Toru were still wrapped up in each other, cuddling as they read through magazines.

"No, Hana's busy tonight, so we're gonna go out tomorrow instead" Alex answered, "shouldn't you two be on a date instead of sitting around Taka's apartment?"

"We have a live tomorrow you idiot" Toru groaned, looking at Alex.

"We're gonna go for dinner before, then she'll watch our live, and want to fuck the lead guitarist afterwards" Alex laughed. "Once again, do you two ever go on dates other than cuddling on couches?"

Taka paused, unsure how to answer. He did really like cuddling on couches with Toru, but they rarely ever actually went out together.

"We went to a park once" Toru answered.

"Wasn't that before we were techincally dating...?" Taka laughed. "Does that count?"

"Nope" Alex sighed, "you two are such an old, married couple"

"No we're not" Taka protested. "We just don't need to uh, do fancy things to have fun"

Alex laughed, "keep telling yourself that"

Takeru entered the apartment, causing Toru and Taka to untangle themselves as Alex giggled in front of them.

"Are you guys performing tomorrow night?" Takeru asked, sitting in his usual spot on the coffee table.

"Yea" Taka responded, "why?"

"I think I should finally go see you perform" Takeru responded. "Haruma and I couldn't decide on a good date night activity and this is the best we could think of"

"Thanks, here I was thinking you wanted to see me" Taka pouted.

"That's an added bonus" Takeru laughed.

"Convenient... you guys can hang out with Hana while i'm onstage" Alex mused.

"You could even go on a double date afterwards" Taka laughed. "Isn't that your thing?"

"Oh, no" Takeru responded.

"Thanks..." Alex quipped, looking at Takeru, "didn't know our double date was that bad"

"Oh, it's just we're gonna have sex afterwards" Takeru laughed.  
  
Taka felt Toru tense up beside him, once again, at Takeru mentioning sex.

"Horny bastards" Alex laughed.  
  
"You have sex at school on a daily basis" Toru groaned.   
  
"Pretty sure Takeru also has sex at school daily" Taka added.  
  
"Not daily..." Takeru protested. "More like a few times a week"  
  
Taka felt Toru tense up again, and was tempted to just ask him later what his deal was with gay sex stories.  
  
"That is practically every other day" Taka pointed out.  
  
"Pretty sure you spent more time having sex in empty classrooms than attending classes" Takeru laughed in response. "You literally knew which classroom would be empty at any given moment"  
  
Taka could feel himself turning red, as he felt Toru staring at him, probably with a judgemental face. "Whatever, who's staying for dinner? I'm gonna make takoyaki..."  
  
"Nah, I'm going out for dinner" Takeru responded. "See you all later"  
  
Alex waited for Takeru to leave before responding. "I don't really wanna watch you two make out for the next few hours, so I think I'll just leave now…"

"You seem to have us confused. You're the one who makes out with Hana all day long, we've never even kissed in front of you" Toru laughed.

"I don't just make out with Hana" Alex huffed, "but we both live with our parents, so alone time is difficult"

"I have friends who keep walking into my apartment and not leaving, makes alone time super difficult" Taka laughed.  
  
"Fine, finee" Alex relented, "hint taken that I'm a cockblock"  
  
Taka laughed as he got up and locked the door behind Alex. He laid down on the couch, resting his head in Toru's lap. "Does it bother you that we never go on actual dates?"  
  
Toru smiled down at Taka and mindlessly played with one of his hands. "No, I'm way too tired most of the time to actually leave your apartment"  
  
"I agree" Taka yawned, "you keep waking me up at odd hours of the morning"  
  
"And then you go back to sleep" Toru laughed, "and I leave to go to school for the day"  
  
"Hmmph, fine, you have it worse" Taka laughed. "But 1am band practices were your idea, so really you brought this all on yourself"  
  
Toru laughed, "are you gonna complain about our schedules or are we actually gonna eat dinner before we have to go to practice?"  
  
"Can we just nap and get food from 711 on our way?" Taka asked.  
  
"Yea, sure" Toru responded before getting up and walking to Taka's bedroom.

Taka followed along to the bedroom, laying on top of Toru and fell asleep on his chest.

* * *

Taka and Toru were sat around the bar they were playing at that night. They had just finished soundcheck, and the other members all left to get food before performing. Taka heard someone call his name, and turned around to see Takeru and Haruma. 

"Oh, hey" Taka greeted them.  
  
Toru gave a polite nod but didn't say anything.  
  
"Aren't you gonna greet our guests, Toru?" Taka joked, looking over at his boyfriend.  
  
"They're your guests" Toru sighed before putting on a fake smile, "but thanks for coming"  
  
"That was a lame thank you" Taka laughed, "be nicer to our fans"  
  
Toru groaned, "they're not our fans, they're your friends"  
  
"You know what I mean" Taka responded. "Be nice, or everyone will think you're some kind of diva"  
  
Toru sighed, giving Taka a side glare before Ryota and Tomo popped up behind them.  
  
"Eyy oh" Tomo said, popping up over Taka's shoulders and giving him the fright of his life.  
  
"What the-" Taka jumped, before noticing it was just Tomo behind him. "I'm gonna fucking murder you"  
  
"Ok, Taka, remember what you were just saying about public perception..." Toru laughed, holding Taka back.  
  
"This isn't the end of this, Tomo" Taka muttered.  
  
Ryota sighed heavily, slightly terrified that Taka just threatened Tomo's life. "Where's Alex?"  
  
"Probably having sex backstage..." Taka responded.  
  
"Isn't he getting dinner with Hana?" Toru asked, looking at Taka. "Is he back already?"  
  
"He probably never left and used it as an excuse to ditch you guys" Takeru laughed. "Dude's shameless about having sex in public"  
  
"So are you..." Toru muttered, not even bothering to look up at anyone's reaction.  
  
"I'm sorry, do you have some kind of problem with that?" Takeru groaned, looking at Toru.  
  
"Ok, let's not do any of this in public..." Taka quietly whispered, dragging Toru away from the public area. Takeru and Haruma followed awkwardly, unsure whether or not they were allowed in this section.  
  
"Oh, hi... you guys are back" Ryota said, acknowledging Alex and Hana in the back area.  
  
"Yea. Back" Alex laughed, wiping the lipstick off his face. "What are Takeru and Haruma doing back here?"  
  
"They were about to kick off, hence I brought them out if the public view" Taka responded.  
  
"About the usual?" Alex asked, looking at Takeru for confirmation.  
  
"Toru was making bitchy comments about my sex life" Takeru flashed a fake smile at Toru.  
  
"You just don't need to tell everyone whenever you fuck your boyfriend in a public place" Toru groaned. "That's all"  
  
"First of all, I don't fuck, I get fucked" Takeru responded.  
  
"Whatever. Same thing" Toru groaned.  
  
"Do you not like Takeru because he's gay?" Tomo asked quietly, looking at Toru. He was still confused about Toru. He seemed to be very uncomfortable with Takeru and Haruma, putting a bend in his theory that perhaps Taka and Toru are dating.  
  
Alex saw the very uncomfortable look on everyone's face at that comment, and decided to intervene. "Ignore him. He once got a boner from kissing Taka and takes it out on others"  
  
"What the fuck?" Toru snapped, looking at Alex.  
  
"Ok, maybe the boner part wasn't true, but Taka did kiss you after our first live" Alex laughed, trying to defuse the awkward tension.  
  
"Ahh, so he's in denial... that explains a lot" Haruma noted.  
  
"He's not gay" Takeru informed Haruma, with a target audience of Taka.  
  
"I thought he was gay" Hana admitted. "He gives off a vibe"  
  
Toru groaned, "you're not even supposed to be back here. Everyone but the band, out"  
  
The three extras all left, going back to the public part as the band sat down in their usual spots. Taka was laying on the couch, Ryota and Tomo were in front of the couch near Taka's feet, Toru was beside them, and Alex was on the other side of Toru reading a magazine about aliens.  
  
"Don't you ever get bored reading the same old rumours?" Taka asked, reading the magazine over Alex's shoulder. "I swear you were reading about the same event last week..."  
  
"It's called history, Taka" Alex sighed, "there's ongoing sightings, I'm just reading about an historical event right now"  
  
"Sure there are" Taka rolled his eyes.   
  
"Did you not see that weird flash of light last night? It was so bright" Ryota asked. "It was like a weird, green orb in the sky"  
  
"YES! I knew I saw something! It was a few minutes after I left the rehearsal space!" Alex got hyped up. "Holy shit, I can't believe someone else saw it"  
  
"He's pulling your leg" Taka laughed.  
  
"No! I saw it too! It was like a flying saucer, and the whole sky lit up in a blue glow!" Tomo responded. He had still been debating Toru and Taka, and missed the earlier descriptions.  
  
"Do you not remember it, Taka? We both noticed how weird it was. Right as we were crossing the road to your apartment" Toru added on.  
  
"Ooh, right, it was yellow, right?" Taka asked innocently, hoping for Alex to realise they were all making this up.  
  
"Yes! Remember? Or were you abducted?" Toru laughed.  
  
"Did they take you aboard?" Alex asked, turning back to look at Taka with wide eyes.  
  
"Yes" Taka deadpanned. "They told me they were looking for you"  
  
Alex was so excited, "did they do anything to you?"  
  
"They wiped my memory of the whole event" Taka answered, trying to think of an easy way to end this discussion, "then told me to not fuck up our performance tonight"  
  
"Woah, that's so cool" Alex responded, getting out a notepad. "What colour was the sky when you saw it?"  
  
"Purple" Taka answered, trying his best not to laugh. He was originally trying to just piss of Alex, but making things up and watching Alex believe it was kinda fun.  
  
"And what time? Where?" Alex continued, writing everything down.  
  
"I think it was around 12" Taka answered. "The ramen place by the studio"  
  
Alex continued writing all this down, super excited as everyone was trying their best not to laugh. Alex kept asking questions, and Taka answered with random lies, waiting for Alex to realise he kept changing his story.   
  
"Ok, are you guys done? We need to go out soon" Toru laughed.  
  
"Fine. Fine. We'll continue this afterwards..." Alex mused.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toru yells "I'm not gay" so often Taka begins to believe he isn't.  
> Tomo overhears Taka saying some very weird stuff.  
> Toru is a creep who watches Taka sleep.  
> But definitely not a gay creep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh, setting up the final 3 plot points.  
> ...which are really the only 3 plots this entire time. Oh well.  
> This is a build up I guess to one of them?  
> Because it's going to begin taking off in the next chapter. I think. Haven't split the chapters up yet.

The days were getting colder. Taka and Ryota were still at each other's throats on a daily basis. Tomo had warmed up to Taka, making Ryota even more irritated. Ryota felt like he had completely lost his grip on his friends, and they were all choosing Taka over him. Occasionally he would follow Toru to Taka's after school, but watching as Taka had managed to weasle into his friend group made him feel sick. He didn't even know why his all friends were slowly gravitating towards him. He was loud, irritating, and scary. Tomo used to cower every time he saw Taka, now he laughs when Taka begins ushering death threats to anyone who pisses him off. Like right now.

Taka was running around the studio, chasing Alex for making some stupid off hand comment. Taka couldn't even remember what the comment was, but he grabbed Tomo's drum sticks and began using Alex's shoulder as a drum anyway.

Tomo was kind of irritated that Taka was using his sticks like a toy, but watching Alex laugh and yell as Taka hit him was probably worth it.

"Oi! Toru! Control your vocalist!" Alex laughed, trying to dodge the drumsticks-turned-weapons Taka was attacking him with.

Toru looked up from packing up his guitar, chuckling as he saw Alex getting hit by Taka. "No I'm good, you probably deserved it"

"Can you two just shut up?" Ryota groaned. He had just finished packing up his bass, unsure why he was still standing in the room.

"You can just leave" Taka laughed as he momentarily stopped hitting Alex, who then broke away and ran, hiding behind Toru.

Taka chased after him, and tried to use the drumsticks on Toru, only to have them snatched away.

"Don't you think you've used Tomo's sticks enough for today?" Toru laughed, holding them above his head, out of Taka's reach.

"No" Taka laughed, jumping up to reach them.

"Why are you always so irritating, running around like a 3 year old?" Ryota groaned in the background.

"Why are you so irritating, sitting around like someone who hates having fun?" Taka groaned, giving up his task of bullying the other members.

"I don't hate fun, you're just irritating as hell" Ryota sighed. "Are you even capable of going an entire practice without beating everyone up?"

"Yes" Taka laughed, "but it's fun. Why would I want to do that?"

Ryota groaned, "why do they even hang out with you if all you ever do is beat them up?"

Taka went silent, unsure why they hung out with him. Toru had his obvious reason, and Alex enjoyed pissing them off. But he was never quite sure why Tomo was at his apartment every school day. Probably the food.

"He's sometimes funny" Tomo offered.

"Sometimes?" Taka laughed, looking back towards Tomo, and lunging towards him before Toru restrained him.

"Ook Taka, you've had enough fun for tonight" Toru laughed as he looped his arms underneath Taka's shoulders.

Taka tried to kick Toru's shin, in a poor attempt to run free. But all he accomplished was both of them losing balance and tumbling onto the floor. Taka instinctively put his arms out and bent his knees to break the fall, only for Toru to also come crashing down on top of him. 

Practically in doggy style. 

Taka groaned loudly, but Toru was just laying on top of him. He tried to elbow him or _something_ to get him off, but Toru wasn't budging. He turned his neck around to look up at Toru, "Get off me you jackass"

"So that's how gay sex works…" Alex quietly muttered to himself in a joking matter. He didn't even realise he had said that out loud until Toru gave his usual push back.

"I'm not gay" Toru groaned loudly, glaring at Alex. He pushed himself off Taka's back, then went back to putting away his guitar.

Taka looked up awkwardly, feeling a sudden pit forming in his stomach with memories of their first date. He added that to Toru's constant irritability about Takeru and Haruma, and had a sudden really bad feeling that perhaps Toru wasn't lying.

Maybe Toru never was gay, and only went along with the relationship because he wanted to keep Taka in the band.

Since it was the end of the practice anyway, he decided to just leave for the night. Blinking away tears before anyone noticed how upset he was about the thoughts swirling around in his mind. 

Toru watched as Taka left the studio seemingly calm, followed by Alex also following behind him. He wanted to go chase after Taka, but Ryota was already bugging him about staying in the dorm. He gave in and decided to just go home with Ryota. 

Tomo watched the whole interaction with a confused feeling. Taka seemed excessively angry with Toru claiming he's not gay, which added to his theory that something weird was happening between them. He just couldn't figure out if it was one-sided, or if Toru was in some kind of denial. Ryota seemed oblivious to Taka's reaction, and Alex looked like he was following Taka out, as if Alex knew Taka would get upset at Toru claiming he's not gay. Tomo wasn't sure if Alex actually knew anything, or if he was going off the same hunch that Tomo was going off of. 

* * *

"Why are you here?" Taka groaned, letting Alex in his apartment anyway.

Alex sighed. He hated doing this whole comforting thing. But he also knew there was a good chance Toru would kill him for leaving Taka when he was upset. So he decided to just grin and bare it. Whatever the hell Taka was upset by. He would deal with it or face certain death from Toru. "Toru went to his dorm room. You're upset. I can call Takeru if you'd prefer to deal with him"

"Don't" Taka snapped. "Don't call Takeru. He's just gonna get all 'I told you so'"

"What?" Alex asked, confused about what Taka was actually mad about. He assumed it was that he made a gay sex comment in front of everyone, but maybe there was something else.

"Takeru's made it his life mission to remind me that Toru's not gay" Taka sighed. "I kept ignoring him, but, maybe Takeru's right"

Alex almost face palmed himself. Was he really needed here to convince Taka that his boyfriend is gay? But Taka can be a bit dumb, and oblivious. "Have you ever just, asked if he's gay?"

"No…" Taka admitted. "We just kinda got together…"   

Alex groaned, why was he even entertaining this conversation. Other than the fact that he'd be dead in the morning if Toru found out he was being rude to Taka while Taka was upset. "But you two have sex, right?"

"What the fuck..." Taka groaned, glaring at Alex, "I'm being serious here. He flinches more than Ryota and Tomo whenever Takeru and Haruma hold hands. Like he's… grossed out or something. And he yells 'I'm not gay' way too much for a gay person"

"First of all", Alex sighed, "he yells 'I'm not gay' way too much for a straight person. Second of all, he's grossed out by Hana and me. And finally, straight guys don't tend to have sex with other guys. Hence my question. You're having sex, right?"

"No" Taka admitted. They hadn't even talked about having sex with each other. "We've done other stuff though…"  

"What kind of other stuff?" Alex asked curiously, Toru always threw a hissy fit whenever he asked. He figured maybe he would get some answers from Taka.

“Are you always this intrusive into other people's bedroom habits?” Taka groaned.

“Fine” Alex groaned, “have you seen his dick?”

“What the fuck” Taka groaned, beginning to regret ever starting this conversation. 

“Toru's prudish as hell” Alex explained, “he wouldn't go showing his dick to other people, especially other dudes, unless he was serious”

“Fine. It was a dumb idea that wormed its way into my head a long time ago” Taka sighed. “I'm going to bed. you can sleep on the couch or just leave if you want”

“Nah, I'm sleeping in this legendarily large and comfortable bed, where it's apparently normal for two friends to sleep in” Alex giggled. 

“No you're not” Taka groaned, going into his bedroom and closing the door behind him. He figured he should probably wear pjs for the first time in a long time, just in case.

Alex laughed then followed Taka into his bedroom for shits and giggles, and found Taka already in bed. He decided for the hilarity to just get in on the other side. “This is actually really big and comfy. Can I stay here more often?”

“No” Taka groaned before falling asleep.

* * *

Alex walked to Toru and Ryota at Toru's locker the next day. Toru looked bloody exhausted, holding a cup of coffee in his hand. “Did you have to sleep on the hard as a rock dorm mattress last night?”

“I wouldn't classify it as hard as a rock” Toru responded.

“I would. I've sat on that thing before and my ass hurts after 5 minutes” Alex laughed, “are either of you gonna ask me what kind of soft and luxurious bed I slept in last night?”

“Hana's?” Ryota suggested.

“Unfortunately not. It was quite the large, comfy bed though” Alex chuckled, “I believe Toru is very familiar with sleeping in it. And you really should sleep at your dorm room more, Taka's bed is incredibly comfortable. He talks in his sleep though, which is kinda irritating"

Toru looked at Alex confused, "I've never noticed him talk in his sleep"

"He was saying some weird shit. Like 'the amp is broke, kissing the guitar helps', and 'fake boobs are weird'. Just really weird things" Alex laughed.

"Why were you even at his apartment?" Ryota asked.

"He offered beer. I accepted" Alex lied. He didn't really want to tell Ryota that Taka was upset. He may ask why. And Toru would most definitely murder him if he spilled the beans to Ryota. He debated whether or not he should tell Toru about his conversation with Taka yesterday, but decided to think of it later. "Anyway, I think I wanna try to have a quickie before class starts. See you two fools later…"

Toru watched as Alex left, slightly concerned that Taka was upset. He never talked in his sleep, and what the hell kind of dreams was Taka having. Fake boobs and guitar kissing? That's some weird things to be dreaming about.

"That was weird…" Ryota noted. "How comfortable can a bed be?"

"Really comfortable" Toru admitted. "You don't even notice how bad our dorm beds are until you've slept on his giant bed. He even has a super warm duvet thing"

Ryota looked at Toru confused, but also kind of curious how great a bed can be. "Are you gonna be at the dorm after school at least?"

"No, I'm gonna go visit Taka. That whole story was bizarre..." Toru responded before heading to class. "I'll see you tonight at practice"

* * *

Tomo showed up at Taka's around lunchtime, only to discover Taka's apartment seemed.. empty. Usually he was asleep on the couch when he arrived, and would claim Tomo didn't wake him up.

But his front door _was_ unlocked. He decided to just sit down on the couch, protecting Taka's apartment from intruders or whatever. His unit door was usually unlocked, but also Taka was home when he got here. Surely he locked it before leaving, right?

He heard a weird noise from the bedroom, and decided to go investigate. He first knocked on the door, afraid that perhaps Taka was still asleep. No one opened the door, and decided to just check. In case someone had entered Taka's apartment. He found Taka in bed, talking in his sleep about… a guitar he loves? Tomo couldn't quite understand anything, but decided to leave the room. Except when he began leaving, he heard "don't leave me Toru..."

Tomo was still kind of curious about what was going on between Toru and Taka, and decided to just listen in, fully aware this was some kind of invasion of privacy.

"Nnngh, love you… love your guitar..." Taka mused in his sleep.

Tomo sat there awkwardly, because holy shit this was just… Taka having a dream, right? Probably brought on by Alex's comment about them having sex, right? They weren't in love, right? surely Tomo would know if his friends were in love with each other. Surely, they would tell the other band members before it got to that stage.

Tomo decided to just leave Taka to sleep, go sit on his couch, and digest what he heard. Was Taka in love with Toru, and did Toru return the feelings? Toru did just say he wasn't gay last night, but he did once kiss a guy. And never told Tomo who. He tried to think back to that game, and Taka also drank to kissing a guy. At the time, he assumed it was probably a drunken time with a boyband member or something. because that's what celebrities do, right? Kiss each other for the hell of it? But, is it possible that Toru and Taka had been dating the entire time, and just never told him?

And the kiss backstage was a public slip up? He was brought out of his thoughts when Taka exited the room.  
  
"cold..." Taka shivered, half asleep and wearing a giant sweater. He turned up the heat before sitting next to Tomo on the couch. 

"It's not cold…?" Tomo answered. He looked at the sweater Taka was wearing, and was fairly certain it looked familiar, "why are you wearing Toru's sweater?"  
  
Taka looked down at his sweater, incredibly  exhausted. Eyes fluttering in and out of sleep. He couldn't remember ever stealing any of Toru's clothing, but his mind felt foggy. Either way, he didn't have much of a response. "Don't think his… you want blanket… heat broke..."  
  
Tomo responded by feeling Taka's forehead, trying to figure out if he was sick.  
  
"Hnnng... don't touch… not my boyfriend" Taka mumbled, half asleep and weakly trying to fight off Tomo.  
  
Tomo paused at that, unsure if he should take advantage of a delirious and feverish Taka, then figured, what the hell. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"eeee's noooot gay..." Taka yawned, giving up on fighting off Tomo and beginning to fall back asleep.

Tomo couldn't quite pick that up, did Taka say he wasn't gay, or his boyfriend isn't gay? Taka was currently half asleep with a fever, he could be just having a dream or something. He got out his phone to text Toru, "Taka has a fever, should I call his parents? I don't know how to contact them"  
  
"NO" Was the text Tomo got back right away, followed by "i'll be over right after school"  
  
Tomo sighed, he got up to go make Taka some soup. Taka was already asleep on the couch, so he figured he'd just leave him there for the time being. He went over to the kitchen to make soup, mentally debating Toru and Taka, as well as Taka's parents. Why wouldn't they want to be notified their kid's sick? He figured he was driving himself crazy thinking about all this and decided to just ignore it. Focus on not burning the soup.  
  
Tomo put the soup down on the coffee table, and tried to wake up Taka to get him to eat soup.  
  
"Why you make food...?" Taka asked, still in a sleepy daze. "Was gonna make food..."  
  
"You're sick" Tomo responded, looking at his phone. "Toru's gonna be here soon to help take care of you. Do you want me to call your parents or something?"  
  
"Noooo..." Taka whined, still sleepy and drinking his soup. He finished it and then laid back down on the couch, exhausted and freezing cold. Shortly after finishing the soup, Toru rushed into the apartment.  
  
"Are you ok?" Toru asked, accidentally waking up Taka. He crouched in front of him, stroking his sweaty hair, momentarily forgetting that Tomo was beside him. "How long have you been unwell for? Alex said you were talking in your sleep, but didn't mention you being sick"  
  
Taka groaned quietly, "fuck off… am fine"  
  
"No, you're not. You have a fever" Toru sighed. "Do you want a towel to cool you down?"  
  
"Noo… am cold" Taka groaned weakly, "carry me bed… we cuddle before practice"  
  
"I'll cancel practice, you can barely talk, you need rest" Toru answered, slightly unnerved that Tomo was pretending to not hear the cuddling comment.  
  
"don't need rest… feel fine..." Taka whined. His eyes were fluttering in and out of sleep. "cooold... warm me up in bed"  
  
"Fine" Toru sighed, putting his arms underneath Taka to pick him up and carry him to the bedroom. Taka put his arms around Toru's neck, resting his head on Toru's shoulder and murmuring random things.  
  
Tomo felt incredibly awkward. Watching as Toru carried Taka bridal style after all the sleep talking confessions. And how Toru barely even reacted, as if it was normal for Taka to order Toru to carry him to cuddle in bed.  
  
Toru put Taka down on the bed, then exited the bedroom, ignoring Taka's mumblings of "don't leave". He was already mostly asleep, and figured Taka was probably sleep talking.  
  
"Did Taka say anything else weird in his sleep?" Toru asked casually, praying that Taka didn't accidentally spill all his secrets.  
  
"Not that I remember" Tomo lied, "why?"  
  
"Oh. Ok" Toru responded, "just, if he did say anything that seemed weird, don't, uh, tell anyone. He was probably sleep talking, or something"  
  
"Oh, yea" Tomo nodded awkwardly. "He mostly talked about liking guitars and weird things like that"  
  
"Oh, ok. Good" Toru was relieved, but slightly nervous that Tomo may just be lying, "can you tell Ryota practice is cancelled? I'll text Alex"  
  
"Yea, let me know when he's feeling better" Tomo responded before leaving, fairly certain in his theory that Toru and Taka are dating. What else would Toru possibly think Taka accidentally admitted to while sleep talking. "See you later"  
  
"Thanks for taking care of him" Toru smiled, locking the door behind Tomo. He headed over to the bedroom and got under the covers beside Taka.  
  
"You left me" Taka said, still half asleep, rolling over to cuddle on Toru's chest. "Why you leave me..."  
  
Toru sighed, stroking Taka's hair. He couldn't even tell if he was awake or not. How could he even blame Taka for sleep talking stupid things in front of Tomo, when he was so sick. And vulnerable. He wasn't even doing his usual pouting face routine, he was just mostly asleep on Toru's chest, sweaty from the fever.  
  
"Set alarm... for practice..." Taka murmured, "can't sleep through..."  
  
Toru got out his phone to text Alex, and found many messages from Ryota. "Is practice cancelled??", "is taka actually sick??", "reply!!", was the majority of them. He groaned before trying to reply, holding his phone above Taka. "Taka has a fever, practice cancelled". He figured he'd just send the same message to both Ryota and Alex, then figured he should try to sleep. He was woken up by a text from Alex, "are you proving you're gay ;)"  
  
"Stop text… cuddle" Taka groaned, still half asleep and cuddling on Toru's chest.  
  
Toru wasn't sure _what_ that text meant, but decided to just put the phone on silent and cuddle with Taka. He put his arms around Taka, stroking his back underneath his shirt. He was sweaty as hell, Toru suddenly wasn't sure it was a good idea to cuddle with Taka when he's sick. But surely Taka would bitch him out if he just got up and left, and decided to sleep and deal with the potential consequences later.  
  
"Hnnngggh... koala smart... likes strawberries..." Taka mumbled in his sleep.  
  
Toru chuckled to himself and decided against sleeping. He wanted to hear what other kinds of things Taka was going to say in his sleep. Maybe Tomo was telling the truth, Taka really didn't say anything about Toru while sleep talking.  
  
"Koala... drink coconut... like dino..."  
  
Toru was trying his best not to laugh, afraid of waking up Taka, who was still sleeping on his chest.  
  
"Koala... good sex... dino..."  
  
Toru found himself very confused, was Taka watching some kind of animal channel documentary? This had to be a bizzare dream.  
  
"Dino... don't like... koala... dino not..."  
  
Toru was still trying to picture what the hell Taka was dreaming about, when Taka suddenly began breathing heavily.  
  
"Dino not... dino not... dino..." Taka's eyes popped open, shivering as he held onto Toru.  
  
"Are you ok?" Toru asked, watching as Taka suddenly woke up in an absolute panic.   
  
"Nightmare..." Taka responded quietly, tightening his grip on Toru.  
  
Toru kissed Taka's sweaty forehead, and rubbed his back. He couldn't figure out how a funny dream about koalas and dinosaurs suddenly turned into a nightmare.  
  
"What time...?" Taka asked before yawning again.  
  
Toru grabbed his phone and saw Ryota had replied, "fine. See you tomorrow". He also had about 20 messages from Alex, alternating between, "ARE YOU HAVING SEX??", "answer me damnit", "but are you having sex?", "tell meeee"  
  
"What time..." Taka mumbled quietly, "gonna be late..."  
  
"It's 11, Taka. Go back to sleep" Toru responded to Taka before responding to Alex. "He has a fever. We're not having sex. Was he ok this morning?"  
  
"set alarm... practice?" Taka mused, beginning to fall back asleep on Toru.  
  
"No, Taka. You're sick, just go back to sleep" Toru responded, stroking Taka's back. He realised Taka was already asleep and kissed his forehead.  
  
"Hnnnngh.... don't leave me..." Taka mumbled.  
  
Toru continued stroking Taka's back. This sounded like nightmare potential and decided to comfort him in advance.  
  
"Even... Don't like me... don't leave me..."  
  
Toru was starting to get sleepy, wondering who Taka was dreaming about. He tried to keep himself awake, partly out of curiosity, partly out of fear Taka would have a nightmare and wouldn't wake Toru up.  
  
"Guitar.... don't like me..."  
  
Toru strained to keep himself awake, trying to listen for more clues. He wasn't sure if this was another strange dinosaur dream, or if he was having a dream about his life.  
  
"Like you... like your guitar... why don't... you like me..."  
  
Toru felt himself wake up immediately. Was Taka having a dream about Toru not liking him? How could Taka even _think_ Toru didn't like him? He went back to praying Taka was having a dream unrelated to life. He hugged Taka tightly, trying to comfort him.  
  
"Hmmpngg... like you... stupid dino... like me..."  
  
Toru felt himself tense at that. Was Taka having another dinosaur dream, or was the dinosaur about him... and a koala? Toru felt his head hurt, exhausted, yet trying to stay awake to listen to Taka, and make sense of all his mumblings.  
  
"Like dino... nice dino..." Taka mumbled, slowly waking up and yawning. He was exhausted and slightly chilly, and decided to cuddle Toru tightly. "time is it?"  
  
Toru yawned before checking his phone, "it's 3, go back to bed"  
  
"We missed band practice" Taka shot up, "Ryota's gonna hate me even more"  
  
Toru was exhausted, trying to calm down Taka. "I already cancelled it. You're sick"  
  
"I'm not sick, I'm cold" Taka whined before curling up against Toru.  
  
Toru smiled at Taka, "it's hot as hell in here. You're sweating like you've run a marathon. You're sick"  
  
"Hmmph, no I'm not" Taka yawned. "You are really sweaty though..."  
  
"That's your sweat" Toru laughed, putting his hand on Taka's forehead. "I think your fever is going down though"  
  
Taka snuggled into Toru's chest, "I feel fine. I'm tired though..."  
  
"It is 3am" Toru smiled, running his hands through Taka's hair. "Go back to sleep"

"Sorry for waking you..." Taka muttered quietly before going back to sleep.  
  
"It's alright, you're cute when you're tired" Toru laughed. "I liked watching you sleep"  
  
"Fucking creepy dinosaur" Taka softly mumbled as he fell back asleep.  
  
Toru laughed at that, so he was the dinosaur. He waited for Taka's sleep talking to begin, but it never did and he decided to just fall asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dumb (and tired) as hell Toru can't figure out who the koala is??


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taka asks Toru if he's gay.  
> Toru has a bad idea and asks Takeru weird questions.  
> Takeru tells Toru specifics about why he still hates him  
> 

Toru's alarm went off at the usual time of 7am. He turned it off immediately, absolutely exhausted. He felt Taka quietly murmur and get out of bed on autopilot. "Don't get up, just go back to sleep"

"Don't tell me what to do" Taka yawned, following Toru out of the room and laying on the couch.

Toru laughed, then crouched in front of Taka on the couch to feel his forehead. "Well you're definitely not as hot…"

"Hmmmph" Taka responded, "I'm always hot"

“I know you are” Toru laughed before kissing Taka, “I'm gonna get ready for school now"

"Have fun" Taka mused, grabbing a magazine and reading it on the couch.

"You could just go back to sleep" Toru pointed out before going back to Taka's room.

Taka decided against that, it was possibly the first night since joining the band that he actually had a full night sleep. So he opted to just get up and make breakfast as Toru got ready.

"Are you making me breakfast?" Toru joked as he exited the room.

"No" Taka responded, "don't you usually get breakfast on your way?"

"Yea" Toru answered, hugging Taka from behind and kissing his neck, "but also usually you don't make breakfast"

"I think I actually slept last night" Taka laughed, "I don't remember the last time I got an actual night sleep"

Toru nodded, feeling exhausted on account of he stayed up practically all night listening to Taka's weird sleep dreams. "I'll see you after school"

"Yea, see you then" Taka smiled, turning around to kiss Toru goodbye. He finished breakfast before opening his phone and found a text from Tomo asking if he felt better, so he responded with a yes, going to the couch to read magazines and debate how he would go about asking Toru if he was gay. He had had random dreams about Toru not being gay all night, even a bizarre one where they had sex, then Toru yelled he's not gay right after. He groaned audibly before the door opened and Tomo walked in.

"Are you ok?" Tomo asked nervously, feeling Taka's forehead. "your fevers gone down, What was with the groaning?"

"Nothing" Taka lied, going back to reading his magazines.

Tomo decided against pushing it. Thinking maybe it was something to do with Toru rather than being sick. He was fairly certain Toru and Taka were probably dating. But he also couldn't just ask anyone for confirmation, who would he even ask?

He thought about it, and realised. Maybe that's the reason Ryota hates Taka.

Ryota doesn't like that Toru and Taka are dating and takes it out on Taka. He felt a twinge of sadness, that Taka and Toru even felt the need to hide their potential relationship.  
  
“Why are you staring at me?” Taka groaned, looking over at Tomo.  
  
“Sorry, I'm zoning out" Tomo responded. “are we having practice tonight?”  
  
“I assume so” Taka answered. “why wouldn't we be?”  
  
"Well you were sick last night…" Tomo responded. "Are you feeling well enough?"

"Yes" Taka groaned, going back to reading his magazine and thinking of how to ask Toru if he's gay.

* * *

Toru dragged himself to school, exhausted. Alex was waiting at his locker, probably to piss him off about canceling practice.

"So Toru, you got news for me?" Alex smirked, looking at how exhausted Toru was.

"Yes, Taka's fever has gone down. Thanks for asking" Toru groaned, looking at Alex. "What was with the 50 messages last night asking if we were having sex?"

"Oh" Alex responded. "He seemed fine when I left in the morning. His sleep talking dreams were weird though. He kept mumbling about having sex with you… I assumed you cancelled to have sex..."

"He was having similar dreams last night I think…" Toru admitted, ignoring the part about cancelling practice for sex. That would be something Alex would do, not Toru.

"So when are you doing it?" Alex asked, looking at Toru. "You do want to, right?"

Toru groaned, he didn't want to have this conversation with Alex. At least not in the school hallway. Or probably ever. He knew as soon as he admitted that he wanted to have sex with Taka to Alex, he would never let it go. He was also slightly terrified of having sex. Partly because people make a big deal of the first time, partly because… he knew nothing about gay sex.

"Are we having practice tonight?" Ryota asked, walking up to them.

"Yea" Toru responded, praying that would be the end of his conversation with Alex.

"Good" Ryota sighed. "What did everyone do on their impromptu night off?"

"Studied" Alex responded.

"Wholesome" Toru laughed awkwardly, "are you sure you just studied?"

"I mean I may have also had sex…" Alex added on.

" _Also_ had sex?" Toru asked for clarification.

"I may not have studied…" Alex added on, laughing to himself as Toru rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Let me guess Toru, cancelled to hang out with Taka?" Ryota groaned.

"He had a fever" Toru answered. "I stayed with him, yes. But he slept the entire time. I've gotta get to class, see you two later…"

* * *

Toru showed up to Taka's house after school, sat down on the couch in front of Taka and felt his forehead, "I think the fever is gone completely"

"He's a bit grumpy, but other than that, he's been good" Tomo noted.

"So he's back to normal" Toru laughed, looking at Taka who didn't seem to find that as funny.

"Do we have band practice tonight?" Tomo asked.

"Yea, he seems well enough" Toru responded.

"Ok, I'll go see Ryota then. See you both at 1" Tomo smiled as he left Taka's apartment.

Taka got up to lock the door behind Tomo, then sat down on the couch beside Toru. He decided to go for the best way to confront Toru, straight and honest. "Are you gay?"

Toru was taken by surprise, unsure why Taka would ask that. He opted to feel Taka's forehead again, just to make sure this wasn't another fever dream. "Are you sure you're feeling ok?"

"Yes" Taka groaned, "just answer the question. Do you like guys?"

Toru stared at Taka. he wasn't really sure on anything. He really liked Taka, probably loved him, but he didn't feel like that towards other guys. He enjoyed doing sexy things with Taka, but wasn't interested in other guys. He had had dates with girls in the past, kissed them. Which made him think he's straight. But he liked Taka so much. And Taka is his boyfriend. Why would he even want to think about other people. "I like _you_ "

Taka groaned, holding his head in his hands, "that's not an answer"

"I don't know why you're asking me..." Toru responded quietly.  "I like you. You're my boyfriend. Why does it matter if I like guys in general or just you?"

"Then why are you so grossed out by Takeru and Haruma? And yelling that you're not gay all the time? Is it because you don't like guys, or is it something else, I can't figure you-"

Toru cut off Taka with a kiss. "Taka. You're working yourself up over nothing. I only yell I'm not gay so that no one will think we're dating. And I'm not _grossed out_ by Takeru and Haruma, I'm _jealous_ of them. Being so confident, not hiding their relationship, having sex. I just get irritated by it sometimes…"

"You're jealous that they're having sex?" Taka smirked, looking at Toru. They hadn't even really discussed sex, Taka had been waiting for Toru to bring it up, and holy shit he just brought it up. Not specifically, but that was enough to make him completely forget his earlier fears of Toru only agreeing to the relationship to keep him in the band.

Toru sighed, looking at Taka, afraid. "I don't want sex to fuck things up… I like how we are right now..."

Taka wasn't sure how to respond. He wanted to have sex with Toru, but he didn't want to feel like he was pressuring Toru into anything. "Why would sex fuck things up?"

"I don't know" Toru shrugged, putting his arms around Taka to hold him close. "remember when Alex got dumped right after having sex?"

"Well yea, but it's not gonna be like that for us…" Taka responded, looking up at Toru. "We don't have to if you're not ready"

Toru smiled at Taka then kissed his forehead, unsure if he wasn't ready or just nervous as hell. He figured he would think of that more later, when he was more relaxed. And move on to a lighter version of this topic. "Last night… you were talking in your sleep. Do you remember what you were dreaming about?"

"Why…?" Taka responded, looking at Toru confused. Suddenly slightly concerned he was making sex noises in his sleep during his dream about having sex with Toru.

"You were sleep talking" Toru laughed, "and you kept referring to a dinosaur. Then when you woke up randomly you would call me a dinosaur"

"Oh" Taka laughed, feeling at ease, "you look like a dinosaur"

"What?" Toru laughed, looking at taka.

"A specific dinosaur" Taka responded, "you know, gachapin?"

"No?" Toru asked, getting out his laptop to figure out what he was talking about. "How the hell do I look like that?"

"The eyes!" Taka laughed, "you have the same dead eyes"

Toru looked at it, "nope. Not sure I understand"

"You look like him" Taka giggled, "you're just in denial"

"No I'm not" Toru responded, putting his arm around Taka and kissing his head. "You just need your eyes checked"

"No I don't" Taka laughed, "you need to study though. Aren't exams soon?"  
  
"Mine start late this term" Toru groaned, brought back to reality that he couldn't just sit and laugh with Taka all day, "I think my first is December 14th? Maybe? Then they're just all back to back"  
  
"But then at least you'll have time to study without school?" Taka reasoned, looking at Toru.  
  
"More time to procrastinate is more likely" Toru chuckled. "But I should actually probably get a start on studying..."  
  
"Good idea" Taka laughed, "go do that"  
  
"Fine mom" Toru laughed as he got out his backpack and began doing homework.

"Stop calling me mom, you goddamn dinosaur" Taka laughed, sticking his tongue out at Toru.

Taka heard a knocking at the door, and went to find Alex behind it. "Heard a rumour you were sick yesterday"  
  
"Apparently" Taka sighed, letting Alex into the unit.  
  
"Ah, studying, cute..." Alex mused, sitting down beside Taka.  
  
"Do you have a reason to be here, or are you just here to piss us off?" Toru sighed, looking up from his studying. Not that he was actually studying, his mind was busy thinking of sex with Taka.  
  
"I heard our dear vocalist was sick yesterday" Alex responded, reaching across to feel Taka's forehead for emphasis. "Although he feels fine"  
  
"Get your hand off me" Taka groaned, moving his head to be away from Alex.  
  
Toru was trying to study, only for Taka to hit his head against his shoulder, and why was he so turned on by Taka's head against his shoulder. Probably because they hadn't actually done anything in a few days, and he was now thinking of Taka's mouth, giving him release. Or about the very vague sex talk still on his mind. He heard Taka let out a small giggle, probably realising just how hard he is, and prayed to god Alex wasn't cluing in. Thank god Alex was on the other side of Taka.  
  
"So what are you studying?" Alex asked, getting up to get beer. "I don't wanna start studying"  
  
"Literature" Toru responded, noticing Alex was walking back holding a beer, "well I guess you're not gonna start tonight when you're drinking"  
  
"You're getting low on beer, Taka..." Alex  mused, sitting back down beside him.  
  
"Probably because someone keeps walking in and drinking it every day" Taka sighed.  
  
"That person sounds like fun" Alex laughed. "Bet he's awesome"  
  
"He's irritating as hell" Taka sighed, getting up to get his own beer. "What the hell, did you actually just grab my last beer?"  
  
"At least I told you!" Alex laughed, finishing off the beer with a single chug. "Well I've gotta go now"  
  
"Fuck off" Taka groaned, watching as Alex left before turning to Toru, "Wanna go buy beer with me?"  
  
"I don't have my fake id with me" Toru responded, "can you stay and give me a blowjob? Please?"  
  
Taka laughed at how desperate Toru looked. "I'll suck you off when I get back, it'll be a reward for how _hard_ you're studying"  
  
Toru groaned, looking at Taka with discontempt as he laughed and left the apartment. He went back to staring at his screen, debating how long he could hold himself in. And debating just... giving in and having sex with Taka. They had only vaguely talked about it, but it was clear as day Taka wanted to do it. But also Toru was terrified, that it would change things, that it would hurt, that he wouldn't know what he was doing. He felt himself go soft at the thought things might change between him and Taka. He decided to just go back to staring at the screen, looking at his exam schedule with his novel on the couch beside him.  
  
He heard the sound of the door opening, praying it would be Taka, but instead Takeru was inside the apartment. He inwardly groaned, knowing this means he wouldn't be getting head anytime soon. "Taka's out right now..."  
  
"Obviously" Takeru groaned, "why are you here?"  
  
"Studying" Toru lied, still freaking out mentally about sex with Taka.  
  
"Staring at your exam schedule beside a closed book doesn't constitute studying, you fucking idiot.." Takeru deadpanned.  
  
"Shut up" Toru groaned, going back to staring at his computer and fretting about sex. He wanted to have sex with Taka, but was terrified. And... how does one even have gay sex? He knew the basics, but... how does one even find out about gay sex. He felt like he knew more about straight sex than gay sex, despite _probably_ being gay.  
  
"Is this how you always study? No wonder you're such an idiot..." Takeru sighed.  
  
Toru looked over at Takeru, with a really dumb idea, that he knew he would most definitely regret. "Can I ask you a question?"  
  
"You can ask me anything" Takeru responded, playing with his phone, "and I'll probably ignore it like I usually do"

"How does gay sex work?" Toru blurted out, immediately regretting his decision. He didn't even want to look at Takeru's reaction, immediately averting his eyesight to the ground.  
  
Takeru stared at Toru and then sighed. "I put up with you because Taka's friends with you for whatever reason. I'm not teaching you about the birds and the bees. Go watch porn or something"  
  
“But does it hurt?” Toru asked nervously. “For the person on the bottom. How do you even decide who goes on the bottom?”  
  
“Why the fuck are you even asking...?” Takeru groaned, because what the hell _was_ Toru even doing asking him questions about gay sex. Toru made it very clear a long time ago he was straight, and Takeru would _murder_ him if that was just an excuse to leave Taka on their date.  
  
“I think I wanna have sex with a guy, but uh, I have no idea how…?” Toru admitted awkwardly, staring at his keyboard.  
  
Takeru groaned, “why the hell would _I_ give _you_ advice for having sex with _some guy_ when you couldn't even man up and tell _Taka_ you weren't interested? You just made up not being gay instead?”  
  
Toru groaned, “I wasn't making up not being gay. I liked girls. I assumed that meant I wasn't gay”  
  
“You fucking _broke him_ , Toru. He binge drank for weeks, kept hooking up with random girls for the sole purpose of proving he was straight. I hadn't seen him so drunk and broken since the time he got kicked out of NEWS” Takeru yelled. “So _forgive_ me, for not wanting to give you advice to fuck _some other guy_ ”  
  
“It's not some other guy” Toru whimpered, blinking back tears. He had no idea how poorly Taka reacted, and felt a wave of sadness crash over him. He just wanted Taka to come back into the apartment so they could cuddle, and he could try to ease the hurt he caused Taka years ago.  
  
“Then who is it?” Takeru asked, staring intently at Toru.  
  
“Taka” Toru responded nervously. “Just. Don't tell him about this conversation. We kinda agreed we weren't gonna tell anyone about our relationship…”  
  
Takeru groaned, “is it actually Taka or are you just trying to pretend it's Taka to get advice for some other guy?”  
  
“It is Taka. It was his decision to not tell anyone” Toru admitted, looking up at Takeru for the first time since the conversation began.  
  
“And so you told someone anyway. Nice” Takeru sighed, still not entirely sure if he believed Toru, "When did you even get with him?"  
  
“Are you gonna answer my questions?" Toru asked. "I'll answer yours, if you'll answer mine"  
  
“Fine. What do you wanna know?” Takeru groaned, mentally cursing himself for even engaging with the original question. “You have until Taka gets back to ask questions, then we'll never mention this conversation again, and we'll go back to hating each other”  
  
“I don't actually hate you” Toru groaned.  
  
“You're wasting valuable time with your lies, Toru” Takeru pointed out. "When did you start dating Taka?"  
  
"September. How do you decide who goes on the bottom"  
  
"Talk in advance. When are you gonna have sex with him?"  
  
"Haven't really thought about the when yet... maybe my birthday? Not sure though… we only vaguely talked about it for the first time today" Toru responded. "Does being on the bottom hurt?"  
  
"The first time, yes. It gets better with experience. When's your birthday?"  
  
"December 7th. Is there any way to make it less painful?"  
  
"Prep well. Who else have you told about this?"  
  
"What the fuck does prep well mean?" Toru asked, looking at Takeru confused.  
  
"Who else have you told about this?" Takeru asked again.  
  
"Alex knows. What the fuck does prep well mean?"  
  
"Lots of lube, start with fingers, go slowly. Why the hell do you tell so many people if it's meant to be a secret?"  
  
"Alex kept walking in on us. It became hard to deny. Taka knows Alex knows. Do we have to use a condom?"  
  
"It'll help with cleanup. Taka's clean, but it's a good habit. Did he ask you out or vice versa?"  
  
"Don't remember... I think I kissed him first, then we kissed nonstop for a few days, then decided to date. I can't remember who asked who though. May have been mutual. Is losing your virginity actually as big a deal as people say?"  
  
Takeru shrugged, "not really. I suppose it depends on the situation? If it was a good experience, it's not a big deal. If it's bad, it is a big deal"  
  
"I'm really afraid of it changing our relationship" Toru admitted awkwardly. "Taka told me... about how he lost his... and I'm so scared I'm going to turn into Alex. Get dumped immediately afterwards, and turn to nightly one night stands..."  
  
"You'll be fine. Just talk your fears out with him" Takeru responded with a strangely sweet and understand tone. Then the tone changed quickly, "But I swear to fucking god, if you _ever_ hurt Taka ever again, I will fucking cut off your dick off"  
  
"I'm not gonna hurt Taka" Toru sighed, and heard the door open.  
  
"Ok, I still hate you" Takeru said quietly before Taka entered the unit.  
  
Toru went back to staring at his exam schedule and trying to suppress his fears of sex with Taka.  
  
"Oh, hi" Taka greeted Takeru in his apartment, slightly disappointed this meant there wasn't going to be any sexy times with Toru. He put the beer in his fridge then sat down on the couch between Takeru and Toru. "How was studying?"  
  
"Good..." Toru lied. "Got lots done"  
  
"You haven't even opened your book yett" Taka laughed.  
  
"Shut up, I already told you I was gonna procrastinate for a while before actually studying" Toru laughed. He rested his head against the back of the couch, turning his head to face Taka and pouting.  
  
"Just start studying, you can't drop out and be a dumbass like me" Taka laughed, sticking his tongue out and also resting his head against the couch. "Study for at least an hour before rehearsal"  
  
"Mmmmph.... I don't want to" Toru groaned, looking at Taka. "Can't we just watch a movie instead?"  
  
"Study for an hour, then we can watch a movie" Taka responded as Toru groaned and went back to his laptop. "The sooner you start studying, the sooner we watch a movie"  
  
Takeru was watching this interaction, and began giggling. Party because they _were_ bickering like a couple, partly because, "When have you ever encouraged anyone to study, Taka?"  
  
Taka groaned, suddenly remembering Takeru was still in the room. He straightened himself up, "as long as I'm not the one studying I encourage it"  
  
"How mature of you..." Takeru chuckled.  
  
"Shouldn't you also be studying?" Taka asked, averting his attention to Takeru.  
  
"Nah, I'm good" Takeru laughed. "I've already done my... hour of studying for the day"  
  
Toru went back to studying as Takeru and Taka were having random conversations. Mostly gossiping about former classmates of theirs, sex stories, and the like. He was slightly less stressed about sex, but still definitely stressed. He looked at the time, and saw it had been a full hour and closed his studying. "Are we watching a movie now?"  
  
"Yea, go choose one" Taka responded. "Are you gonna stay?"  
  
Takeru looked at his watch. He kind of was curious about watching more of their interactions, but he had things to do. "No, I'm going out for dinner. See you later Taka"  
  
Toru watched as Takeru left, then followed to lock the door after getting changed into sweatpants and handing Taka a dvd. Taka got it set up and began playing it as Toru sat back down beside him.  
  
"I think you owe me something..." Toru sighed, realising his sweatpants were doing absolutely nothing to hide the massive boner he was sporting.  
  
Taka was suddenly nervous, having never given a blowjob before. But how different could giving be than receiving…? He figured he could just do what he likes. He smirked as he looked at Toru, "lie down"  
  
Toru did as he was told, laying down as Taka hovered with his face right near his aching crotch. He watched as Taka pulled down his sweatpants and underwear, releasing the erection from the confines of his briefs. And his breathing hitched, throwing his head back as Taka took him in his mouth. He looked down at Taka, smiling, stroking his hair as he watched Taka's head bobbing, the sound of sucking much louder than the movie playing.

Why did they even have the movie playing, neither of them were even paying attention...

Toru couldn't decide between continuing to smile down at Taka or just throwing his head back in absolute fucking pleasure. This felt so good, why had he never begged for a blowjob before this moment. He looked down, Taka was concentrating hard. Taking more of him in with every bob of the head, eventually reaching the base of his dick.

Oh fuck fuck fuck, Taka was deep throating him. He could barely contain his excitement, letting out loud, involuntary moans and groans. Screaming Taka's name over and over again as he dug his fingers into Taka's back.

And wondering how this would compare to sex. If Taka would let him be the giver. How it would feel to be inside Taka's body, not just his mouth. And then he began having fantasies of Taka getting off from sex just as much as he was getting off from this blowjob. Hovering over top of him, thrusting relentlessly over and over again as Taka would yell out Toru's name. When he would finally reach his peak, clutching on to Toru tightly, head buried in his shoulders, like he always did as he came. And then spill out all over his stomach as Toru would then feel release, continuing to thrust as he would come crashing down.

Beginning to subconsciously thrust into Taka's mouth, his fantasies were aligning with reality as he threw his head back, finishing in Taka's mouth. He let out a heavy growl, still moaning Taka's name as he finished up. He began trying to calm down his breathing, feeling Taka remove his mouth and swallowing his load.

"Fuck…" Toru hissed, closing his eyes as he pulled his sweatpants back up. "You're good at that…"

"Thanks" Taka laughed awkwardly, trying to swallow the remnants of semen in his mouth. He laid down in front of Toru, feeling a weird urge to spoon.

Toru turned to face the laptop, still playing a movie despite they hadn't watched any of it yet. He put his arm around Taka's waist, reaching underneath Taka's shirt to stroke his fluffy stomach. He was so tired, using a bent elbow as a makeshift pillow. He didn't really care about the movie, began to nod off, using Taka as a giant, cuddly teddy bear.

Taka felt Toru's hand on his stomach, and nuzzled his head into the arm Toru was using as a pillow. Beginning to regret his decision to spoon. He felt like he was about to fall off the couch. Wanting to be on the other side of Toru for safety. 

Then he felt Toru begin to reach his hand into his sweatpants. Aimlessly wandering. Slowly he had been reaching his hand lower and lower. Not jerking him, just stroking it softly as if it was his own. But fuck the soft strokes were turning Taka on. He could feel his dick begin to harden. But Toru just continued. Taka could barely even take the buildup. Why was Toru taking so goddamn long.

"...are you going to get me off or just hold my dick?" Taka sighed, turning his head back to face Toru, and finding Toru was asleep. What the fuck. And how could he manage to get himself off without waking up Toru…

This was possibly the worst form of torture. Being turned on as hell. Unable to get himself off. Because his boyfriend was asleep with his dick in his hand. What did he even do to deserve this kind of torture.

So he closed his eyes, trying his absolute best to fall asleep or something. Getting distracted by the volume of the movie on the laptop in front of him. Why were they even still watching it, can't they just press pause?

He tried to do that. Reached forward to turn off the movie, accidentally waking up Toru in the process.

"Stop moving, I'm trying to sleep…" Toru murmured behind him.

"Don't sleep, jerk me off already" Taka groaned, turning his head back to face Toru.

"what?" Toru asked, slowly waking, realising his hand was down Taka's pants. And taka was hard. He smirked, gripping on the erect penis tightly.

"Agh… fuck…" Taka hissed, inhaling a sharp breath as Toru finally began giving him what he wanted. He pressed his head against Toru's other arm, really regretting his decision to spoon. He wanted to kiss Toru, breathe in his scent as he reached climax. But also…

Is this the position they were likely to have sex in? Toru behind him, thrusting into him, jacking him off. The sex fantasies began. Dangerous, since Toru literally just said he wasn't sure if he was ready.

But a bit of fantasising never hurt.

Thinking of how nice it would be for Toru to be inside him, thrusting in a rhythm. He buried his head into Toru's other arm further, taking in his scent. Wanting to surround himself with the smell of Toru as he imagined the noises he would make during the act. Calling out 'Taka' repeatedly, between heavy breaths and moans from both of them.

"Why are you calling out your own name?" Toru chuckled, never breaking the rhythm he had going on Taka's dick.

"I… agh… shu…. Fu…." Taka breathed out, too engrossed in the feeling to even think of an explanation other than 'I was thinking of you fucking me and calling my name'

"Pretty sure I'm supposed to be the one moaning your name…" Toru whispered, right in Taka's ear. Feeling him moan and wiggle as he began repeating "Taka" in his ear with a breathy whisper.

"Fu… toru… toru… gaggh… fuck…." Taka wasn't even sure how much longer he could keep the feeling going. The sound of Toru's voice, the heavy breathing on his ear, the images he had in his head of them fucking.

He let go. Pushing his face even more into Toru's arm. Spilling himself into Toru's hands, breathing heavy as his muscles all began relaxing. He closed his eyes, wanting to just lay there and relaxing. Except of course the sticky mess in his pants was incredibly uncomfortable, so he got up to change his pants before going back to the couch to cuddle on Toru's chest until rehearsal. 


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tomo is a lurk who reads Taka's phone screen.  
> Taka discovers Toru has a birthday.   
> Toru invites Taka to go to Osaka with him and Ryota.   
> Ryota and Taka bicker in Osaka.

Toru and Taka were sat around the rehearsal studio, they got there early and were the only ones there. They were having a vague conversation about exams, last day of school, and procrastination.  
  
Ryota walked in with Tomo, getting themselves set up as they waited for Alex. Toru was sat with his notebook open and his phone in front of him.  
  
"What are your plans for your birthday?" Ryota asked, sitting across the room and playing his bass while waiting for Alex.  
  
Taka's head popped up immediately. Birthday? When was Toru's birthday? He opted to just stare at Toru, waiting for an answer. And mentally began trying to think of birthday plans, and presents, unsure how long he had to prepare.   
  
"Not entirely sure yet..." Toru answered. What he wanted to do was some sort of variation on "fucking Taka all day", but that was probably unrealistic. He could settle for just fucking all night long.

Taka sat there thinking, _so he has no plans yet_ … maybe they could spend a cute day together. Watch movies all day. And of course by watching movies he meant watching them about as closely as they watched whatever movie they watched earlier.

"We're not going to Osaka this year?" Ryota asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"My parents will probably beg me to…" Toru sighed. He didn't want to go to Osaka, he wanted to have sex. But he didn't really want to admit to any of this in front of Ryota.  
  
"My parents have been begging me to go visit them for a while..." Ryota responded, "they're probably assuming I'm visiting for your birthday"  
  
Taka tried to hide his disappointment at all the plans he had been working on not coming true. Not that he had been working on them long, he only discovered Toru's birthday in the past 5 seconds, and he still had no idea when it actually is. He decided to move on from his _plan_ brainstorming to _present_ brainstorming.  
  
"I was thinking of using exams as an excuse to not go, but yea sure" Toru responded, still looking at Ryota. He was also trying to think of a good excuse of reasons he's inviting Taka, as well as how he was going to get rid of Ryota once there.  
  
Taka felt crushed. Toru didn't want to spend his birthday with him. He still didn't even know when Toru's birthday actually is. He wanted to get off the subject, because _what the hell_ he felt nauseous. "Where'sAlex?"  
  
"I don't know, but I'm losing track of which strike he's at..." Toru sighed. "He better have a good excuse, since he's way past 5 strikes"  
  
"Oooh, what's the punishment?" Tomo laughed.  
  
Toru wasn't actually sure. He never planned on anyone ever getting to 5 strikes. Also, it couldn't be anything too bad, in case Alex retaliated by telling everyone about him and Taka. He decided to bluff, "I'll tell everyone at the same time..."  
  
"So when are we going to Osaka? I have an exam on the 9th, so I'll have to be back in time for that" Ryota mused.  
  
Taka looked at his phone. December 1st. Toru's birthday was in the next 9 days and he never said anything?? He quickly texted Toru, "WHEN THE FUCK IS YOUR BIRTHDAY?"  
  
"Is that Alex?" Ryota asked, hearing Toru's phone go off.  
  
"No..." Toru responded while texting back and turning his phone on silent. "I'm gonna fucking murder him for being this late though. He'd better be dead or something..."  
  
Taka put his phone on silent soon as he saw Toru texting. He stared at his phone, waiting for a response even though Toru was still typing things into his phone. His phone finally received a message. "7th. Wanna go to Osaka? what should Alex's punishment be?"  
  
"Should you call him?" Tomo asked. He noticed Taka texting shortly after Toru sent a text, wondering if Toru was texting Taka. He decided to subtly lurk over Taka's shoulder, just to see if he could get any kind of confirmation on his dating theory.  
  
"Yea, I'll do that if he's not here in another 5 minutes..." Toru responded while reading Taka's text. 'How will you explain that to Ryota lol. Rip up his alien books'  
  
"Shouldn't you just call him now? It's not like we have much time left of rehearsal..." Tomo noted, reading Taka's phone. 'I want to spend my birthday with my bf ;) ok lol'  
  
"We may as well cancel I guess..." Toru groaned, reading his text from Taka. 'He'll kill you for calling me your best friend. Where do I get to sleep ;)'  
  
Ryota sighed in the background, still practising his bass. "That's two cancelled practices in a row"  
  
"Did you really want to practice without Taka?" Toru groaned, not even bothering to look at Ryota while replying to Taka. 'My BoyFriend gets to sleep in my bed with me ;)'  
  
"Yes" Ryota answered, packing up his bass and going to sit next to Toru on the ground.  
  
Toru immediately pressed send and exited his text messages and decided to just call Alex. There was no answer, so he left a very strongly worded voicemail promising pain and suffering. Just as he was about to hang up, Alex walked in the room looking miserable. He laid down on the floor the other members were sitting on and groaned.  
  
"Are you ok?" Taka asked cautiously, looking at Alex's state.  
  
"No" Alex groaned. "I got dumped"  
  
"Oh..." Toru responded nervously, beginning to feel bad about threatening Alex via voicemail.  
  
"Why'd you get dumped?" Taka asked.  
  
Alex sighed, "apparently I'm boring and we didn't do anything other than sex"  
  
"Well rehearsals already cancelled, wanna just get drunk at my place?" Taka offered. "Also delete the voicemail you got from Toru..."  
  
"Why? Does it say something funny?" Alex cracked a smile at Taka.  
  
"You hit 5 strikes" Ryota groaned, "not sure when Taka decided you don't need to be punished for that"  
  
Taka sighed, "he got dumped, he's upset, do you always feel the need to kick your friends when they're down?"  
  
"Toru's the one who recorded the voicemail" Ryota spat back. "That's on him, not on me"  
  
"Enough you two" Toru groaned, slapping them both on the head. "Obviously I didn't know Alex was dumped when I sent it. Let's just all go to Taka's, get drunk, and get along for once"

"Fine" Ryota groaned, getting up and following everyone out of the studio.

* * *

Taka let all his bandmates into his apartment. Alex went straight for the fridge and got out Taka's vodka. He sat down at the couch and laid down as everyone sat on the ground in front of it.

"So, do you wanna talk or drink?" Taka asked, pouring vodka for himself. He knew he was terrible at cheering people up, but Alex was a good listener the other night and figured he had to return the favour or whatever.

"Drink" Alex groaned, sitting up temporarily to drink his vodka. "You guys do whatever, I just wanna drown my sorrows in alcohol right now"

"So when should we buy tickets for Osaka?" Ryota asked, looking at Toru.

"The 5th I think. Does that work, Taka?" He turned to face Taka.

"Yea" Taka responded, trying to avoid Ryota's glare.

"Why's Taka going?" Ryota groaned, looking at Toru for answers.

"So I can spend my birthday with both my best friends" Toru responded.

"Ouch" Alex remarked, "are you not inviting Tomo and I?"

"You can both come with us if you want" Toru laughed.

"I'm busy" Tomo lied. He had read the entirety of Toru and Taka's text conversation. He figured he was only being invited to make it seem less weird. Besides, he figured Taka and Toru were probably having… couple time. Or whatever they were doing together. Surely they were getting physical in some way if they were going to be sharing a bed with a winky face.

"What about you Alex?" Toru offered.

"No, I'm good" Alex sighed.

"Great, just us three then" Ryota groaned. "When are you going to stop tagging along to everything, Taka?"

Taka looked awkwardly at the ground, feeling bad for interrupting what Ryota probably assumed was time with just Toru. "I don't have to go"

"Thank you" Ryota smiled.

Toru groaned, looking at Ryota. "He's just saying that because you've made him feel bad, as usual"

"Thank you then, Taka" Ryota responded.

"No. He's going" Toru sighed. "It's my birthday, I want him there, the three of us are going together"

* * *

Taka was sat around with Tomo around his apartment, trying to think about what to get Toru for his birthday. He had a mental list going, and kept coming back to CDs, followed by not knowing what CDs Toru actually owned. "What are you getting Toru for his birthday?"

"Not sure…" Tomo admitted. "Probably a cd"

Taka inwardly sighed, trying to think of something better to get him. He really wished Toru would have given him more than a couple days notice. Eventually Takeru showed up, getting a beer and then sitting down between Taka and Tomo.

"Was my last day of school today" Takeru announced proudly, opening the beer. "What are we doing to celebrate?"

"Shouldn't you be studying for exams rather than drinking my beer?" Taka asked, looking over at Takeru.

"Shut up" Takeru responded. "I'm ready, I've got a few practice problems to be doing, but other than that I'm good. So what are we doing to celebrate?"

"I got you beer" Taka joked, "what more do you want?"

"Fine" Takeru groaned, "what are your plans for tonight?"

"Not sure. I assume Toru's gonna come by soon, I haven't heard from Alex today. Shouldn't you be off having sex or something anyway?" Taka asked.

"Alex called me this morning. He was really upset" Takeru sighed. "I think he's upsetting himself in advance for spending christmas alone"

"What are you doing for christmas?" Taka asked, looking at Takeru.

"Unsure, probably gonna go to a restaurant with Haruma, cake, sex, usual things. You?" Takeru asked, curious if Taka was about to admit to any plans.

"No plans" Taka responded. He hadn't actually thought about Christmas yet, but it would be his first with a boyfriend. Or a relationship in general. "What about you, Tomo? Any secret girlfriends we should know about?"

"Or boyfriends" Takeru added on.

"Nope" Tomo laughed awkwardly. "No relationships to report"

"Hm. You and Taka should go speed dating or something…" Takeru suggested, waiting for Taka to push back.

"I'm too busy with the band" Taka groaned, "gotta keep focused on that"

Takeru looked at Taka suspiciously, wondering why Taka never told him about Toru.

Tomo looked at Takeru weirdly, realising not even Takeru knew about Taka and Toru. Then he wondered if maybe he really is the only one to know anything.

"Oh, you're here early Takeru…" Toru sighed as he walked in and sat on the couch beside Taka. "I booked our tickets for Osaka, by the way. We leave Monday morning and get back Thursday afternoon"

"You're going to Osaka?" Takeru asked, looking between Taka and Toru for answers.

"Yea, for Toru's birthday" Taka answered, "why?"

"Nothing" Takeru smirked, thinking this was a rather extravagant way to have sex when they could just go to Taka's bedroom.

Taka rolled his eyes, thinking Takeru was probably about to give him some kind of "Toru's not gay" lecture. But instead he replied with, "have fun in Osaka"

"I should probably go see Ryota, see you tonight" Tomo smiled, leaving Taka's apartment.

"So Toru, when do you start actually studying?" Taka laughed, looking at Toru.

"Not today…" Toru sighed. "Probably tomorrow I guess. I'm exhausted from drinking on a school night"

"So you're not gonna plan what to show me in Osaka?" Taka laughed.

"Oh, I didn't know you were expecting a tour" Toru smirked. "I assumed you were gonna be happy just hanging out with me for my birthday"

"Not a tour" Taka laughed, "just a highlight of the things I need to see"

"Fine, I'll make a list of things you should see…" Toru laughed, grabbing a notebook to make a list.

"That's my songwriting notebook, why are you using it for a list?" Taka groaned, glaring at Toru. "It's bad enough you write one line of lyrics per page. Can't you just use a school book?"

"Those are for school" Toru laughed, "this is for your benefit, hence I'm using your notebook.

"Fine" Taka sighed, hovering over Toru's shoulder, reading the list. "I've already seen the castle"

"Hmmph, fine, I'll take that off the list" Toru chuckled, starting a new list on a new page.

"What the fuck" Taka groaned, "just cross it off and continue using the same page. Why did you need a new page for that…"

"So the list would look nice in your notebook" Toru smiled, looking at Taka.

"Noo" Taka whined, "you're just using up excess pages you didn't need to use. Think of the trees, you goddamn dinosaur"

Toru laughed, almost blurting out "I love you" before remembering Takeru was also there. He opted to just roll his eyes at Taka calling him a dinosaur again and continue his list.

"I think I'm gonna leave. Have fun in Osaka" Takeru smiled awkwardly before leaving, feeling excessively like a third wheel.

"What are we doing for dinner?" Taka asked, laying down and resting his head against Toru's leg as soon as Takeru left. 

"Don't you usually take care of dinner?" Toru laughed. He put the notebook on the table and then laid down, pulling Taka to be on top of him.

"I'm lazy" Taka yawned, "do you wanna go out or just stop by the 711 for dinner and junk food?"

"711" Toru responded. He didn't want to have to get up for a long time, so content in the moment. He had one arm around Taka's hips, the other one stroking his back underneath his shirt. "I love you, Taka"

“I love you too, Toru” Taka responded with a big smile, reaching up to kiss Toru.

* * *

Taka, Toru, and Ryota were taking the shinkansen to Osaka. Toru was sat between them, hoping to set a distance between them. Taka had the window uncovered, looking outside as Ryota complained about how sunny it is.

"Just close it" Ryota groaned, staring at Taka. "It's too bright"

"No. What's the point of a window if I can't look out it" Taka responded, staring out the window. It was rather bright, but now that Ryota was complaining, he didn't want to seem like he was giving in.

Toru groaned, sitting between them. He was planning on reading the novel for his literature class he was supposed to read a month ago. But his head was killing him with the bickering, the sun was excessively bright, and he wanted them to stop arguing. "Just close the window, Taka. It is really bright"

"Fine.." Taka sighed, covering the window. Now that he had no window to look out, he took to reading the novel Toru was reading over his shoulder.

Toru sighed, at least the bickering was over. Except Taka was fidgety as hell, constantly scratching his arm, reshifting himself, but at least it was mostly quiet for a few minutes.  

“Stop fidgeting” Ryota groaned, glaring at Taka.

"Mind your own business" Taka sighed. "Go study or whatever"

Toru groaned, looking at the time. "Can we all just get along for the next 30 minutes?"

"Can he sit still for the next 30 minutes?" Ryota groaned.

"Can you stop complaining for the next 30 minutes?" Taka responded sarcastically.

Toru dug through his bag, found his ipod and put on some headphones. "I've had it with you two"

"I'm sorry" Taka pouted, resting his head on the back of the seat and looking at Toru.

“It’s fine” Toru responded, smiling at Taka and selecting a playlist.

“Stop pouting trying to get your way” Ryota complained.

"At least I apologise for being irritating" Taka mused, smiling at Ryota.

Toru groaned loudly, "I'm done listening to your arguing"

"You've really pissed him off this time" Ryota said out loud, looking towards Taka.

Taka decided against arguing back and just went back to reading over Toru's shoulder.

* * *

Toru's brother picked them up from the train station and brought them back to Toru's house. Toru's prayers must have been answered, since Taka and Ryota had finally stopped their bickering on the car ride home.

They arrived to Toru's house, and he wanted to either just sit in a dark room alone after two hours of bickering, or just lay in bed with Taka. But Ryota's family was also at his house, so he was forced to socialise with everyone there.

Taka watched as Toru and Ryota both greeted their respective parents. He stood in the doorway awkwardly, still wearing his backpack, not entirely sure what to do.

"Oh, this is Taka. He's the vocalist in our band" Toru smiled as he introduced Taka to his parents.

"Hi" Taka smiled, being introduced to both the families.

"Why don't you show Taka to your room?" Toru's mom smiled.

"Yea, wanna put your stuff in my room for now?" Toru asked, turning around to face Ryota.

Ryota nodded then walked with Toru and taka upstairs.

Taka walked into Toru's bedroom, looking around at all the pictures and posters on his walls. He had only ever been in Toru's dorm room once, but it was empty and sterile. this looked like the actual bedroom of a teenager. He walked around, inspecting everything and still trying to think of a birthday present.

Ryota groaned in the background, "why are you going through all Toru's things?"

Taka stopped and turned around, unsure how to respond.

"Can you two at least pretend to get along in front of our families?" Toru sighed, looking at Ryota.

"I can, if Taka can stop being so goddamn intrusive…" Ryota groaned.

"Sorry… it's just so different from your dorm room" Taka apologised.

"Probably because he comes here more often" Ryota sighed, glaring at Taka.

"Ok. Ground rules are in order apparently" Toru groaned. "No snide comments, and don't let anyone know I rarely go to the dorm. Got it?"

"Why were those both directed at me?" Ryota asked.

Toru thought for a few seconds, "no swearing. don't threaten to kill anyone"

"What if-"

"Not even if you're just joking" Toru cut off Taka, who scowled in response. "C'mon, let's all go downstairs where you two can be nice to each other for once"

"Fine" Ryota groaned, glaring at Taka.

Taka noticed Ryota giving him a death glare, and immediately turned his gaze to the ground. Terrified of Ryota ruining the next few days. And terrified of their constant bickering ruining Toru's birthday.

"Stop glaring at him" Toru sighed, looking at Ryota. "Just pretend to get along for a couple of days. For me. Please?"

"I can do that" Taka responded, smiling at Toru.

"Yep. Fine. Can do that as well…" Ryota sighed, leaving the room to go back downstairs.

"don't react. I love you" Toru whispered in Taka's ear before following Ryota downstairs.

* * *

 

"So Taka, how did you meet Toru and Ryota? Are you a classmate?" Toru's dad asked as they all got settled.

"Uhhh… no, Toru saw me singing in a band I used to be in, and invited me to join his band. So I did" Taka smiled, trying to calm his nerves.

"So you go to a different school?" Toru's dad asked as a follow up.

Taka stared at the ground, gulping audibly. Praying for Toru to come rescue him before he accidentally began lying.

"Taka dropped out of school" Ryota answered for him.

Toru inwardly sighed heavily, thinking of ways to kill Ryota for that. He looked over at Taka, who was looking small and scared, probably trying to think a way to explain that.

"Uhh… tests and studying aren't really my thing..." Taka laughed awkwardly, trying to defuse the awkward tension. And trying to send Toru thoughts saying 'help me'.

"He's really good at singing, though. And cooking" Toru offered. "He's been learning to cook recently"

"Ooh, is your mom teaching you?" Toru's mom asked, "Toru never wanted to learn from me"

"Neither does Ryota. Are you teaching either of them anything?" Ryota's mom added on.

Taka looked around nervously, hoping to dodge the mom comment.

"He feeds us. Never teaches us anything, though" Ryota responded, trying to be friendly after Toru would probably kill him for the dropped out of school thing

"So did your mom teach you to cook?" Toru's mom asked again.

"Uhhh… no…" Taka responded awkwardly. "She's busy with work and stuff. So I, uh, cook for myself"

"So did you self teach or does your dad teach you?" Ryota's mom asked with a smile.

Taka sat there nervously, but trying not to show how nervous he was. "No, uhhh. My parents are divorced. So, uh, I live with my mom"

"So do you have any siblings to keep you company, then?" Ryota's mom asked.

"I have two younger brothers, but they live with my dad" Taka responded, feeling Toru and Ryota both look at him weirdly.

"You have brothers?" Ryota asked, confused if this was another lie, knowing Taka doesn't live with his mom.

"First I've heard of them" Toru admitted, "how long have you had brothers for?"

"Most of my life" Taka laughed awkwardly, "but I rarely see them, so I suppose they just never came up?"

"Weird…" Toru responded, looking at how hard Taka was trying to answer questions with reasonable sounding answers. "so what are we having for dinner?"

"Oh right, we were going to go to the ramen house you two used to eat at everyday" Toru's mom answered, beginning to shepherd everyone out of the house to the restaurant.

* * *

The dinner went well, much to Toru's surprise. Taka and Ryota chose to just ignore each other mostly, but at least there were no kickoffs or personal insults in front of their families. Ryota went home with his family afterwards, leaving Taka and Toru alone with his family.

Toru was exhausted from a day of travel, and fell asleep on the couch almost immediately upon returning home. Taka felt himself rudely nod off during conversations and noticed Toru was already asleep beside him. He gently nudged Toru, since seeing him sleep was making him even more tired.

"Maybe we should go to bed" Toru yawned, "you look tired"

"I look tired?" Taka laughed, "you were asleep"

"No I wasn't" Toru laughed, "I was resting my eyes"

"That's called sleeping, Toru" Taka pointed out.

"Maybe…" Toru conceded defeat, suddenly realising his parents are in the room. "Either way, you are tired so we should go to bed"

Taka laughed, saying goodnight to the Yamashitas before following Toru upstairs.

"There's a futon on your floor, by the way" Toru's mom informed him, "let Taka sleep on your bed"

"Yes mom" Toru smiled, watching his mom leave, "goodnight"

Toru closed the door and turned to face Taka. Grateful to finally have some semblance of alone time with him.

"So, are you gonna sleep on the futon?" Taka joked, looking at Toru.

"Well it won't squeak like a bed will…" Toru laughed, kissing Taka as they both got settled down on the bed.

"And why would the bed squeak?" Taka asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"Do you wanna have sex?" Toru asked, stroking Taka's back and holding him against his chest.

Taka blinked a few times at Toru, not expecting that question. "Are you sure you're ready? You just said you weren't sure…"

"I thought about it" Toru smiled, "I love you, and I want to have sex with you"

"Right… now?" Taka asked nervously, "I'm kinda tired…"

"No, not right now" Toru laughed, "but sometime before we go back?"

"I didn't bring any condoms with me… or lube…" Taka responded, beginning to think of the logistics. "Is there somewhere to buy that?"

Toru laughed, "yes. We're in Osaka, they do have pharmacies here"

"Then yes" Taka smiled, kissing Toru deeply. "I love you"

"I love you too" Toru smiled, kissing Taka's forehead one last time before going to sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toru is irritated as hell with Taka and Ryota.  
> He has a creative way to heal the feud  
> It works better than expected and they ditch him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really understand the story of why Taka was living on his own at such a young age. I feel like I've heard conflicting stories...? So anyway. I made stuff up. All fiction.  
> Also my knowledge of Osaka geography is worse than my knowledge of Tokyo geography. So some of that is also all fiction.

The next day, Toru's parents and brother were all out at work. They decided to go do a bit of sightseeing, followed by going to a pharmacy to buy the essentials of having sex.

Toru and Taka were standing outside the pharmacy, trying to debate who was going to actually buy condoms.

"Rite of passage" Taka suggested, "you're the one losing your virginity, you buy them"

"But how do I know what to buy?" Toru asked nervously, "what if I buy the wrong type?"

"Get lube, get condoms. Find a nice pack you like" Taka responded.

"What if I run into someone I know?" Toru asked.

"They'll think you're getting laid" Taka laughed. "Just go in, buy condoms, maybe also buy shampoo or something if you think it'll be less weird. I believe in you"

"Fine" Toru sighed, "I'll go, buy lube, buy condoms, then meet you out here"

"Good luck!" Taka called out after him.

Toru walked in nervously, and went to the family planning aisle. He had no idea what to buy, and partially wished Taka had just gone in with him. He grabbed a bottle of lube first, then moved on to condoms. He grabbed a box, and read the back, trying to figure out what the hell one looks for in condoms. Then his worst nightmare happened, he heard someone call his name.

"Why are you looking at condoms…?" Ryota asked, looking at Toru.

"Why do you think?" Toru groaned, avoiding Ryota's stare in favour of reading the back of the condoms.

"Are you still a virgin?" Ryota asked.

"Yes" Toru groaned, "and I have no fucking clue what kind of condoms to actually buy. And Taka refused to help me, claiming this is a rite of passage of losing your virginity and fuck. Why are there so many options..."

"Ok, chill out. It was just a question…" Ryota sighed, slightly glad this meant Toru was finally over Taka. "Do you have… plans to do it with someone?"

"Yea…" Toru admitted.

"Who?" Ryota asked.

Toru groaned, unable to think of a good lie, "I'll tell you later. Right now, time to buy condoms"

They exited the pharmacy together and found Taka outside waiting.

"What the hell took you so long?" Taka laughed as he saw Toru leaving the pharmacy. Then he saw Ryota behind him.

"Shut up, why are there so many options" Toru groaned, beginning to walk home with Ryota and Taka.

"Well there's the ultra thin ones, the ribbed ones, the extra large ones…" Taka mused.

"Yes. We get it. You have a lot of sex" Ryota groaned, "couldn't you have imparted that wisdom on Toru before making him buy condoms on his own?"

"He's the one losing his virginity, not me" Taka pointed out. "He's gotta learn to buy condoms for himself eventually"

Toru groaned, letting them both into his house. He hid the condoms before going to the basement with Taka and Ryota. They were both bickering about everything under the sun, and he had a sudden idea, recalling a conversation with Taka and Takeru months ago. "Can you two help me find something?"

"Sure?" Taka responded, following Toru and Ryota to a random closet.

Toru pushed them both into the storage closet, then locked it behind them. "You can come out when you've learnt to get along"

"WHAT THE FUCK TORU?" Taka yelled, banging on the door. "Let me out"

"Nope. Not until you can learn to be nice to Ryota" Toru called out from the other side. "I'll check on you in an hour"

"BUT IT'S DARK IN HERE. I DON'T LIKE IT. LET ME OUT" Taka continued banging on the door, and heard the sound of Toru walking upstairs. He leaned against the door, then sunk to the ground about to cry.

"Jesus, stop overreacting" Ryota groaned, flicking on the lightswitch.

"I don't know where the fucking lightswitch is" Taka groaned, getting up and looking around the storage closet. There were mostly a bunch of boxes, books, and toys probably from when Toru was a kid. He began wandering around going through random things. If he was stuck in this room for an hour, he may as well use some of that time to think of a present.

"We could have avoided this if you had convinced Toru he isn't ready for sex" Ryota huffed, glaring as Taka was being intrusive, going through all of the boxes.

"He's old enough to be making his own decisions about sex" Taka sighed, browsing through random boxes and thinking of a present.

"Then why didn't you just go in with him and help him?" Ryota groaned, "rather than let him stand around confused, looking like an idiot"

Taka tried to think of a Ryota-friendly version of 'I don't want to always be the one who buys condoms'

"What good would that do for him?" Taka asked, staring at Ryota. "What happens when he runs out, goes to get some, and says 'oh I have no idea what I'm buying since my friend chooses them for me'?"

"Fine" Ryota sighed, conceding defeat, "do you know who he's going to have sex with?"

"Some girl from Osaka. I didn't wanna pry too much for details..." Taka quickly lied. He found a random photo album in the box he was going through and opened it. "Awww, is that Toru as a kid?"

Ryota walked over to the album Taka was browsing through. "Yes. Do you always make a habit of going through people's things?"

"Occasionally..." Taka answered, flipping through the pages, "is that you as a kid?"

"Yes" Ryota laughed, looking at the picture of them in HEADS. 

"You were so cute..." Taka laughed, looking at Ryota, "what happened?"

"Hilarious" Ryota sighed, leaning against a random pile of boxes next to Taka.

"Everyone in all these photos look so happy..." Taka said quietly, with a tinge of sadness in his voice.

"Obviously. Why the hell would anyone keep around photos of unhappy times?" Ryota groaned.

"When the only family photos you have are from the fucking tabloids?" Taka snapped, glaring at Ryota. "Photo albums weren't exactly high on the list of things to take when I ran away"

"Thought you lived with your mom" Ryota huffed, remembering the conversation from yesterday.

"I did live with my mom. After the divorce. But uh, I was a burden on her. So I ran away" Taka admitted, staring at the ground.

"So now she probably sits around worrying about you" Ryota sighed, "I'm sure that's better"

"She knows where I am" Taka groaned, "I stayed with Takeru for a while. It got back to her. She signed my lease, but I pay and she hasn't visited me"

"Oh..." Ryota responded awkwardly, unsure how to respond to that. "Why did you run away?"

"It wasn't the first time" Taka admitted. "I used to run away regularly. Especially after getting kicked out of NEWS. Bringing shame to the family and all. She wasn't happy that I dropped out of school. I never fought with her like I did my dad. It was just silent. We rarely talked. So I went to go stay with Takeru one night. And just never went back. I guess his parents got tired of me and called my mom or something"

"You said you have brothers who live with your dad?" Ryota asked, looking at Taka.

"Yea. Tomohiro and Hiroki" Taka smiled, "I haven't really seen them since the divorce, though. They're probably better off without me"

"Why would you think that?" Ryota asked, watching as Taka blinked back tears while continuing to go through the album.

"A lot of people would be happier without me" Taka sighed, "my parents would probably still be together. _You_ would definitely be happier without me"

"The band got better when you joined" Ryota offered, "and Toru's been much happier these past few months. I even see him smiling sometimes"

Taka chuckled at that, "yea. He doesn't smile overly often, does he?"

"Nope" Ryota laughed, "he used to as a kid. Then he became a moody teenager and now I rarely see him smile"

"He looks creepy when he smiles though" Taka admitted, still laughing, "especially sometimes his lips literally curl? It's so weird"

"Yes!" Ryota burst out laughing, "what's with that? He used to know how to smile"

"I have no idea" Taka laughed, putting away the photo album and finding a new box to go through.

"What are you even looking for?" Ryota asked, watching as Taka began going through another box.

"Nothing" Taka sighed, "I haven't gotten him anything for his birthday yet. I was hoping to get inspiration or something from these boxes, but, nothing so far..."

"I haven't gotten him anything either" Ryota admitted.

"That jackass never even told me when his birthday is until after you brought it up" Taka sighed.

"Oh. I thought you two were close..." Ryota admitted awkwardly.

"We are, I guess" Taka nodded awkwardly, not wanting to give away their relationship, "but it's not really a substitute for knowing someone your entire life"

"We could go out and help each other buy something?" Ryota suggested, "you spend more time with him, I've known him longer. And we may as well do something when he has sex...

"Yea, sure" Taka gulped, trying to think of how they were going to have sex without Ryota catching on. "I don't know when he plans on doing it though…"

"Wanna just leave as soon as he lets us out?" Ryota laughed. "Payback for shoving us in here"

"Ok" Taka laughed, looking at his watch. "It's been 45 minutes, surely he's coming back soon right…?"

"Probably" Ryota responded. "He's always been excessively punctual"

"He's probably standing outside the door like the creepy stalker he is…" Taka laughed.

Ryota laughed, "did he actually stalk you?"

"Yes" Taka laughed, "he figured out what time I start work, and would show up 5 minutes after. He'd also wait for me outside the bar I performed at, so I had no chance to try and escape him"

"He was really insistent that you were gonna be our vocalist" Ryota laughed, "we weren't even sure if you existed"

Taka also laughed, "I didn't know if he actually had a band either. I never saw anyone else and thought he was making it all up"

"But you… knew each other before, right?" Ryota asked awkwardly, kind of curious about Taka's side of the date.

"Not really… he didn't recognise me, if that's what you wanted to know" Taka responded, looking at Ryota.

"I heard rumours of the… date…? From Alex" Ryota admitted. "Toru gets irritated whenever I try to ask him though"

Taka laughed, "we decided to just never talk about it. It's way too embarrassing to ever be mentioned"

"But was it a good date?" Ryota jested, trying to see how much information he could get from Taka.

"I guess?" Taka shrugged, "it was a long time ago. I don't really remember it"

"Did you kiss?" Ryota joked. "I don't think I've ever gotten an answer to that"

Taka sighed heavily, trying to think of a way to get out of the conversation while still keeping Ryota happy, "I kissed him at the end of the date. We made out for a while, then he suddenly stopped and said he wasn't gay. Then he left and I never saw him until he began stalking me"

"Are _you_ gay, though?" Ryota asked.

"No" Taka responded, cursing himself for lying about that, even though he just got mad at Toru for the same lie.

The conversation was ended by Toru fidgeting with the lock and opening the door. "Ah, so you haven't killed each other"

"We're gonna go hang out without you, see you later" Taka laughed as he exited the room with Ryota.

"Wait, what?" Toru asked, looking at Ryota for answers.

"Yep. See you later" Ryota answered, walking upstairs with Taka.

* * *

“So… Do you have any ideas?” Ryota asked, browsing around town with Taka trying to find a present.

“Not really…” Taka admitted, “I debated getting him a CD, but, I don’t know which CDs he already owns. And it seems like everyone’s getting him a CD”

“How can you not know which CDs he already owns?” Ryota asked, staring at Taka. “You’re the one who spends the most time with him”

“I assume he keeps his CDs at his dorm..” Taka answered, “because he never brings them to my place”

“Oh, good point…” Ryota responded, “I probably should have gone through his CD collection before leaving”

"Probably…" Take admitted. "You had the perfect opportunity to take stock"

"I assumed I'd think of something better than a cd…" Ryota sighed. "But alas, I haven't"

"Wait, can we go into that stationary store?" Taka asked, stopping in front of it. "I need a new song writing notebook"

"I didn't realise we had that many songs…" Ryota admitted.

Taka sighed heavily, "we don't. But Toru's constantly using my notebook. He'll think of random lyrics, then write them on one page. Then the next day, he'll think of more lyrics. And write it on a completely separate page. It drives me crazy"

Ryota laughed, entering the shop, "he's always done that"

"It's so irritating" Taka groaned, "I have 40 pages with one or two lines used, and my current notebook is only 60 pages… so he's used up more than half of it with his stubbornness"

"He does that to me too" Ryota laughed, "when we do homework together, he asks to borrow a page, then he makes a mistake, rather than erasing it, he uses a whole new page"

"Why can't he just use his own notebook?" Taka laughed, browsing the store. "He has one. Specifically for band related stuff, and it sits mostly empty, because he always uses mine"

"He usually gives lame excuses like 'I only want my notebook to have perfect, finished things in it'" Ryota laughed, "so he does rough work in other people's notebooks, then uses his own for the finished part"

"Maybe, I should just get him a random notebook for his random things…" Taka said to himself, going through notebooks. "Oooh, I could get him this gachapin notebook…"

"The… cartoon character?" Ryota asked, looking at Taka, "why?"

"It looks like him" Taka laughed, "it's the eyes. They're the same tired, dead eyes that Toru has"

Ryota stared at the notebook Taka was holding in front of him, "I kinda see it… but… I don't know if Toru will?"

"Oh. He will" Taka laughed, "I've told him before"

Ryota looked at Taka weirdly, wondering what other kinds of inside jokes he had with Toru. And was that meant to be a joke or an insult? His thoughts were interrupted by Taka questioning how many notebooks to get him.

"Why would you get him more than one?" Ryota asked, tilting his head as he watched Taka hold up a few notebooks.

"You said he likes to keep his notebooks with only 'finished, perfect things', right? I'm thinking should I buy him the gachapin one, as well as a nicer one where he can keep his finished perfect things?" Taka asked, holding up a separate notebook.

"I mean, he may still use your notebook" Ryota laughed, "but I think that makes sense"

"Ok. I'll get these two, along with a notebook actually for me…" Taka mused browsing through the store. "Do you need anything here? Or should we just continue on searching for your present?"

"No I'm good…" Ryota responded, trying to think of a better present than just a CD. "Does he ever mention needing anything else?"

"No…" Taka admitted. "Maybe something for his dorm room? It looked so empty compared to his room here…"

"He rarely ever goes there" Ryota sighed. "Maybe I should get him a new sweater for that one you took from him…"

"Huh?" Taka tilted his head, looking at Ryota. "I don't steal his clothes. That'd be weird"

"Yea you do" Ryota laughed, "you keep wearing this one sweater of his. He said he leaves his clothes in your apartment. You just never noticed and now think they're yours…"

"No I don't?" Taka laughed, "I don't even know which sweater you're talking about"

"The black one. It's way too big for you. But you keep wearing it" Ryota laughed.

"Oooh…." Taka felt his face turning red, "I didn't remember buying that one. But it was in my closet. I assumed it was mine…"

"Nope, it's Toru's" Ryota informed him, laughing a bit.

"Maybe I should buy him a sweater and you give him the notebook?" Taka laughed awkwardly.

"Not sure he would understand me giving him a gachapin notebook" Ryota laughed, "he would also know I didn't buy him a present until now…"

"That's a good point" Taka laughed.

"Wait…  what are we telling him we're up to when he asks?" Ryota asked, "which of us is admitting we forgot to buy him a present?"

"Me" Taka offered. "I'll use the 'you never told me your birthday' excuse"

"Fair enough…" Ryota laughed. "Where should I get the sweater? I don't even know what stores he shops at these days…"

"Neither do I" Taka laughed, "we never actually leave my apartment. I think the sweater I apparently stole is Uniqlo though?"

"There's a Uniqlo down the street from here" Ryota suggested, "what do you two do all day then?"

"He studies and eats my food" Taka laughed, "sometimes we watch movies. Or write songs and such. But mostly either he studies or Alex visits to piss me off…"

"Why does he do that?" Ryota asked, "he always says that's why he visits you and it just sounds weird"

"He drinks my beer, makes fun of my guitar playing, then tells sex stories" Taka laughed, walking into the Uniqlo behind Ryota.

"Ok… what size is he?" Ryota asked, walking towards a row of sweaters.

"How would i know?" Taka laughed awkwardly, trying to imagine hugging the various sizes.

"You have his sweater, right?" Ryota pointed out, "what size is it?"

"Ohh, right… I have no idea. I never checked" Taka laughed awkwardly.

"Here, try this one on" Ryota laughed, shoving a dark blue sweater to Taka. "Does it seem like the same size as the one you stole?"

"Uhhh…. it is way too big…" Taka laughed awkwardly, feeling like he was drowning in the sweater. "So probably the right size?"

"Ok, excellent. I'll get him that" Ryota laughed, taking the sweater to the checkout.

They exited the store, joking about random things. Taka wasn't sure why him and Ryota never got along before, he was funny, and also kind of weird.

"Do you think we should, uh… text Toru? Before you go back?" Ryota asked awkwardly, stopped in front of the store, scratching the nape of his neck.

"Why?" Taka laughed, looking at Ryota weirdly.

"You know… in case he has his girlfriend over…" Ryota responded.

"Oooooh, right…." Taka laughed, "I'll text him and ask?"

"Yea. Ok. I'm going out with my parents for dinner soonish… shit. I should actually head back. Uhhhh, do you remember how we got here?" Ryota asked, looking at Taka nervously.

"Yea, I think" Taka responded, "I'll text him. And if I get lost I'll just call him and make him pick me up afterwards"

"Ok, yea. Uh. Today was weirdly fun" Ryota admitted, "we should hang out more?"

"Yea, sure" Taka laughed, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yea, I'm coming by in the morning i think" Ryota responded. "See you then"

"Yea. See you in the morning" Taka answered, turning around and realising he has no clue where the fuck he is. He turned around again, discovering that Ryota was out of sight. So he got out his phone and called Toru.

"Hello?" Toru answered on the other side.

"I'm lost. Come get me. I'm outside a Uniqlo" Taka responded, looking around nervously.

Toru laughed on the other end, "did Ryota ditch you?"

"No, he asked if I knew how to get back to your place, and I kinda assumed I'd be able to remember…" Taka admitted.

"Ok, I'll come get you" Toru laughed, "I'll see you in a few minutes"

"Thank yooou" Taka responded, not hanging up the phone.

"Are you hanging up or am I?" Toru laughed awkwardly.

"Just stay on the phone. In case I accidentally begin wandering…" Taka mused, walking down to street to avoid looking lost.

"You're wandering, aren't you?" Toru asked on the other end.

"Maybe… i'm in front of a 711 now" Taka laughed.

"You could be anywhere in Japan based on that description…" Toru laughed on the other end.

"Well it's within a few minutes of a uniqlo…" Taka responded.

"I'm at the uniqlo. If only you didn't wander so much you wouldn't be lost…"

"Shut up" Taka laughed, "I'm in front of a McDonalds"

"Holy shit. Just stand in one place for once in your life…"

"I'm walking in a straight line. Just speed up and you'll reach me eventually…"

"I don't have to speed up, because you're slow from being so fucking short" Toru laughed, tapping Taka's shoulder.

"What the fuck" Taka called out, unaware Toru was behind him.

"Nice to see you too" Toru laughed, "are you a lost tourist? Should I take you back to my place?"

"Shut uuup" Taka laughed, "people are gonna think you're abducting me"

"Yea, well, I am" Toru laughed, linking his arm with Taka's. "What did you buy?"

"Nothing" Taka responded.

"Then why are you carrying a bag?" Toru asked again. "Did you steal just a bag from somewhere?"

"Yes" Taka laughed.

"You ditched me, with Ryota, to steal a bag?" Toru reiterated.

"Yes" Taka answered.

"You're weird…" Toru mused, walking the rest of the way home bickering and laughing with Taka.

* * *

Toru and Taka were laying on his bed, watching a movie. His parents were making dinner, and his brother was out somewhere. So they were somewhat alone.

"So what did you buy?" Toru asked, looking at Taka.

"Birthday present for you" Taka answered.

"What is it?" Toru asked, resting his head on Taka's shoulder.

"I can't tell you" Taka laughed, "it's not your birthday yet"

"Just tell me…" Toru whispered in his ear, moving his hand towards Taka's lower body.

"Are you about to bribe me with a handjob?" Taka asked, looking up at Toru, feeling his hand enter his boxer briefs.

"Will it work?" Toru smirked, gripping Taka's already hard cock.

"No" Taka answered, closing his eyes and getting lost in the feeling of Toru's hand getting him off. Trying his best not to moan loudly, since his parents were downstairs.

"So what did you get me?" Toru asked, propping himself on his left elbow, using his right arm to jerk off Taka.

"Can't… ahhmmmm... tell you…" Taka responded quietly through moans, closing his eyes as he bit his lip and focused on the feeling of Toru's hand around his dick. 

"Yea you can…" Toru smiled, gently kissing Taka as he continued the motion. "Just tell me what you bought me at the store"

"Hmpghhh…. No…." Taka softly moaned, wondering how much longer he could keep going until he gave in and told Toru accidentally. He was so fucking close to finishing, he automatically pushed his head into Toru's shoulder.

And Toru stopped. Hand still on his erect cock.

"What did you get me?" Toru asked, smiling as Taka looked so close, breathing heavily underneath him. He brushed his left hand through his sweaty hair, smiling sweetly.

"Noooo" Taka groaned, trying to thrust his hips to get more friction.

"Tell me what you got me and I'll finish you off" Toru whispered, right into Taka's ear.

Taka groaned, glaring up at Toru. "A notebook. You keep stealing mine. Now let me finish before I-"

Toru laughed, kissing Taka deeply as he continued getting him off, feeling the white liquid on his hands. He kissed Taka's forehead, cleaned him off, then laid down next to him.

"Don't torture me like that ever again" Taka groaned, rolling over to be on Toru's chest.

Toru smiled, kissing Taka's forehead, "you liked it"

"Shut up…" Taka laughed, cuddling against Toru.

"Do you know what Ryota got me?" Toru asked, holding Taka against his chest.

"Don't even think about doing that again" Taka groaned.

"So you do know?" Toru laughed. "What is it?"

"Why would I tell you?" Taka responded. "You'll know tomorrow"

"Is it a cd?" Toru asked.

Taka laughed, "how would I know?"

"You did just spend an entire afternoon with him…" Toru pointed out. "And he was with you while you bought a present…"

"All valid points…" Taka admitted. "And yet he got you something he believes I stole from you"

"So you do know?" Toru laughed, "what have you stolen from me…"

"Your heart?" Taka joked.

"My sweater?" Toru asked.

"I've never stolen any of your sweaters…" Taka laughed awkwardly.

Toru hugged Taka tightly, "you do wear my black one very often…"

"It was in my closet. It's mine" Taka responded.

"It's mine" Toru whispered in Taka's ear, "I just let you wear it because you look so hot in my clothes…"

"It's mine" Taka laughed, "because I'm your boyfriend and you should let me steal your sweaters"

"Does that mean I get to steal your sweaters as well?" Toru asked.

"No…" Taka answered. "I don't want you to stretch them out"

"Because you're so short?" Toru laughed, immediately dodging slaps from Taka.

"I prefer Ryota, at least he doesn't make fun of my height regularly…" Taka mused.

"So my lock you in the closet idea worked?" Toru laughed.

"Don't ever fucking do that to me again" Taka snapped. "I was fucking terrified. I didn't even know Ryota was there with me, I thought you had left me all alone in there"

"I'm sorry…" Toru responded, pulling Taka into a hug and kissing his forehead. "I love you"

"I love you too" Taka sighed. "Although I did tell Ryota you were gonna have sex with some girl from Osaka… and that neither of us are gay. And he thinks she's your girlfriend" 

Toru laughed, "we should probably try to keep a straight story on that then. I didn't tell him anything other than I haven't done it yet"

"When are we going to do it?" Taka asked.

"I was originally thinking tomorrow during the day, but apparently my parents both took the day off to spend time with me on my birthday" Toru sighed.

"At least you'll be able to fend off Ryota's questions…" Taka pointed out.

"Wanna do it tomorrow night? When everyone's asleep" Toru suggested. "My parents are probably gonna wake us up at midnight tonight, so we can't do it tonight"

"You should lie about when you did it" Taka suggested. "He thinks you probably did it today..."

"Good idea" Toru responded, kissing Taka. "When we do it, uh… who's gonna… uh… you know… "

"Are you asking if I'll let you shove your dick up my ass?" Taka deadpanned.

"That's one way to put it" Toru laughed. "So will you?"

"As long as you're gentle…" Taka quietly responded, slightly terrified yet curious about what it would feel like to have Toru inside him. Takeru was always going on about how good receiving was, so, he figured it had to be decently good.

"I will be" Toru responded, kissing Taka softly.  


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toru is weirded out at how well Taka and Ryota are getting along.  
> Toru also can't stop thinking of sex whilst at his grandparent's house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always obsessed with Good Charlotte and there's nothing anyone can do to make me stop referencing them in my fics.  
> Also I'm not sure which GC album Ryota and Taka would prefer, but I recall seeing people complain about the sound changes they made for Young and Hopeless, so.... guess which member is gonna prefer that.

Taka was woken up at midnight. He was sleeping in Toru's bed, unfortunately not with Toru. Toru was on the futon on the floor, pretending like he wasn't dating Taka and wasn't sharing a bed with him nightly. 

Toru groaned, very sleepy as everyone sang happy birthday to him. He hated this yearly tradition. People waking him up at midnight, why couldn't they just wait until he woke up in the morning? They weren't even giving him cake. Just waking him up for happy birthday. Who decided this tradition made any sense. He was trying not to nod off, and looked up at the bed. Taka was smiling sweetly, singing happy birthday. He felt his insides melting at how easily his boyfriend was getting on with his parents. Even if they didn't know Taka was his boyfriend - they don't need to know everything - there was something special about his parents getting along so well with the most important person to Toru.

They finally finished their singing, left his room, that was a waste of a minute of sleep, and he immediately got up and laid next to Taka on his bed.

"Happy birthday, Toru" Taka giggled, kissing Toru softly as he got comfortable cuddling on top of Toru's chest. Toru's twin sized bed from childhood wasn't nearly as big as Taka's king bed in Tokyo, but that didn't really matter, since they cuddled all night long anyway.

"I love you, Taka" Toru responding, kissing Taka's forehead, noticing he was already back asleep.

"I love you too" Taka murmured as sleep took hold of him until morning.

* * *

Taka woke up next to Toru, the sun already out and shining into his room. He looked down, noticing Toru was still asleep and decided not to wake him. Everything was calm, and peaceful, and he loved cuddling in his boyfriend's arms in the morning. He buried his head into Toru's chest, only to accidentally wake him up.

"Morning" Toru said quietly, still half asleep.

"Happy birthday" Taka responded, cuddling against Toru even more.

Toru laughed, holding Taka in his arms, also enjoying the moment before hearing the sound of footsteps downstairs. Great. Others were awake, and if he slept in too late, his mother may try to wake them up. So he decided to get up, and go downstairs for breakfast.

Taka was also half asleep, yawning the entire way downstairs before finding Toru's mom making breakfast. For everyone, like a scene out of a movie where families all eat breakfast together in the morning. Even Ryota was there. Taka hadn't seen a scene in real life like this… since when he used to spend nights at Takeru's house probably.

"Do you want coffee, Taka?" Toru's mom asked, handing a cup to Toru after wishing him happy birthday again.

"No thanks" Taka smiled.

"Are you sure?" Toru's mom smiled in response, "there's plenty here"

"No, I'm good, thanks" Taka responded awkwardly.

"Taka sometimes drinks tea in the morning" Toru chuckled, noticing his mom thought Taka was just being polite.

"Do you want an omelette?" Toru's mom asked next.

"Yes, thanks" Taka responded, unsure of rejecting the offer would be awkward. He noticed Toru chuckling slightly at him, knowing Taka rarely eats breakfast.

Ryota sat there awkwardly, unaware why Toru was laughing at the interaction. He also remembered the ground rules, of not mentioning that Toru regularly sleeps over at Taka's. So he sipped his coffee, eating his omelette and was back to feeling jealous of how much time Toru and Taka always spent together. But he did enjoy getting along with Taka, so he put away his thoughts of how close Toru and Taka are, and went on to other thoughts. Such as thinking of a good time to ask Toru about whether or not he had had sex yesterday. 

Ryota's thoughts were brought to a halt by Toru's mom talking about their plans for today. It was a standard birthday in the Yamashita household. Parading Toru around as he hasn't been to Osaka for months. He figured this conversation was probably more for Taka's benefit than his, and zoned out, still kind of sleepy as he drank his coffee.

"Oi! Ryota!" Toru laughed, snapping his fingers in Ryota's face. "Are we leaving now or what?"

Ryota looked up, noticing Taka and Toru were both already standing up, finished their breakfast, and looking at him. "Sorry. Sorry  tired…"

"I thought coffee was supposed to make people less tired" Taka chuckled, "why would you subject yourself to that if it doesn't even wake you up?"

"It tastes good" Toru quickly responded, afraid that Ryota was about to kick off for Taka making fun of his preferences.

"Maybe you just haven't had good coffee" Ryota responded, getting up and following the others.

Toru looked at them both weirdly. They were bickering with each other like they always do. While also… laughing? About coffee? This was beyond bizarre. But also he didn't want to make a comment on it, just in case they suddenly began going at each other throats again.

He got in the car with his parents and friends, sitting in the middle between them. Just in case he was going to need to discreetly slap them both at the same time. But they just talked over him, debating which musician was better, which movie was better. So he put his head back, rested his eyes and thought about how nice it was they were getting along.

And about when they were going to tell Ryota and Tomoya. That was the final qualification, Taka and Ryota not hating each other. Then he figured they should do it back in Tokyo, since there likely wouldn't be a good time before going back. Also, he was excited and nervous for sex tonight. Maybe, he thought, they could just tell Ryota everything at once. Come clean that there was no girlfriend in Osaka, or whatever their story was going to be on that. But he could think of that later. Probably not a good idea to be thinking of sex whilst in a car to your grandparents house…

* * *

Toru heard the tell tale signs of an argument breaking out between Taka and Ryota. The volume of their conversation was getting louder, they were talking quickly and over each other. but he wasn't in the room with them. He was sat at the kitchen table with his family while they were watching tv in the other room.

"Are they… fighting?" Toru's brother asked, looking at Toru weirdly. No one at the table could hear what Taka and Ryota were talking about, only the volume of the conversation.

"I have no idea…" Toru responded nervously. He told them to not fight in front of his family. Gave them specific instructions. Usually, when they fought, there was lots of huffing and puffing, and loud groans before Toru would slap them both. This sounds slightly different, but also maybe this is always how their bickering would end up if left alone. "I'm gonna go see what's going on…"

Toru walked into the other room, massaging his temples, preparing himself to deal with them having a kick off.

"It's the young and the hopeless, everyone knows that…"

"No, it's their self titled album. It's great and underappreciated"

"But The Anthem is so goood"

"The Festival Song is the best song ever though"

"No, The Anthem is their best song. Fight me"

"You're wrong, it's…"

Toru laughed, slightly weirded out that they were bickering about which Good Charlotte album reigned supreme. So he just stood there, slightly afraid if he interrupted them they'd go back to bickering about their usual arguments.

"Here, let Toru settle this for us. Is The Young and the Hopeless the best Good Charlotte album?" Taka asked, looking at Toru lovingly.

"Oh no, don't drag me into this…" Toru chuckled, not wanting to take sides.

"Just settle it. Tell him the first album is better" Ryota offered.

Toru laughed awkwardly, fearing they would both take this as choosing sides, "I'm not getting involved in this"

Taka squinted his eyes at Toru, giving him a death glare. "Fine. Fine. You sit there, being an indecisive jerk…"

"Yep, that's me. Now, can you two use your indoor voices?" Toru asked, "you're both kinda loud, and we can hear you in the kitchen"

"What's an indoor voice?" Ryota asked, followed by him and Taka both bursting out laughing.

"Yea, I've never heard of that before" Taka added on, way too loud.

Toru continued laughing, he wasn't sure why they couldn't just get along like this before. But moreso, he hoped they could continue laughing and joking like this after being back in Tokyo.

And after they inform Ryota of the relationship.

Toru gulped at that thought, trying to put away thoughts of them having a new riff. And putting away thoughts of being inside of, and on top of Taka before it became visibly obvious how excited he was for sex.

"Toru? We're going to do cake and presents now" Toru's mom walked in, inviting them all back to the kitchen.

Taka and Ryota followed Toru and his mom back to the kitchen, laughing between themselves for who knows why.

Toru watched as his friends and family all sang happy birthday to him, again. Trying not to focus on Taka, but him and Ryota were both trying to out sing each other. So he just stared at them, laughing inwardly as his family probably thought they were both on drugs of some sort.

"Open my present first" Ryota laughed as soon as the candles were blown out.

"Noo, mine first" Taka responded.

Toru laughed, thinking their interactions today were so bizarrely genuine. It wasn't just forced friendliness like the act they put on the first day. It was like they were old friends, who weren't about to kill each other on the bullet train there.

"So? Mine first? I was friends with you first" Ryota pointed out.

"Reverse chronological order. I go first, since I met you most recently" Taka suggested.

"Yea ok, in order we met" Toru laughed, pushing away Ryota's present for the box wrapped from his parents.

Taka giggled, watching Ryota's shocked face as Toru began opening the present from his parents. He stuck his tongue out, for added emphasis as Ryota laughed, pointing out he was still going first.

Toru opened presents from all the family members before moving on to Ryota's gift. He shook it a bit, looking at Ryota. Already pretty sure it was a sweater.

"Ahhh, thank you, I felt like I was running low on sweaters…" Toru joked, looking over at Taka.

"Just don't go leaving this one to be snatched by any sweater monsters" Ryota laughed, also looking at Taka.

"Don't forget your sweaters at my place, and maybe I wouldn't assume they're mine" Taka added on, feeling everyone staring at him.

Toru laughed, looking at how cute Taka is when he's embarrassed, and how he was going to be able to have sex with him tonight.

And he really needs to stop thinking of sex so much at his grandparents' house.

"Thanks Ryota, I will make sure to not leave it lying around, susceptible to tiny sweater monsters" Toru laughed.

"Are you calling me short again?" Taka asked, laughing as Toru was looking right towards him.

"Yes" Toru responded, taking the two wrapped presents from Taka.

"Is that a notebook?" Toru's brother asked awkwardly, looking at the present. "With… gachapin on it?"

Toru burst out laughing, seeing the green dinosaur on the front cover. Taka also laughed, watching Toru's reaction as everyone else looked confused.

"I don't think I understand?" Toru's brother admitted, noticing Toru and Taka couldn't breathe they were laughing so hard.

"It looks… like… Toru" Taka said between laughing fits, "hold it up to your face"

"No" Toru laughed, moving onto the next gift. "Ahhh… and an actual notebook, thank you Taka"

"One for your rough work, one for the final copy" Taka explained, "so you no longer go about ripping all the pages out of my notebook"

"Would I ever rip pages out of your notebook?" Toru smiled sweetly at Taka.

"Yes" Ryota answered for him.

"Oi, don't team up with him against the birthday boy", Toru laughed as he hit Ryota on the head with the notebook.

"Ok, we'll begin teaming up against you tomorrow" Taka offered, laughing as he high fived Ryota.

"I think I preferred when you two hated each other" Toru sighed, realising he created a monster duo.

* * *

Toru said goodnight to his family, then went to go get ready for bed. Or for sex. Which was what his actual plans were for the night.

"Are we doing it on the floor or the bed?" Taka asked, looking at Toru as they got into the bedroom. "You mentioned your bed is creaky…"

"Floor I suppose" Toru responded, getting out the condoms and lube from the nightstand and putting them beside the futon. Taka laid down next to him, already hard as Toru rolled over to begin kissing him.

Toru made a quick note of the time, 12:30. He began trying to do the calculations of how long they were going to have before they had to get up to leave, 7am. Not that sex was going to take 6.5 hours, but, they also probably wanted to cuddle and sleep afterwards.

Taka began taking off Toru's shirt, they had been naked in front of each other hundreds of times. They probably spent more time naked in front of each other than they did clothed. But he was so excited to be finally having sex with Toru it felt different. More energy, and his skin felt like it was being sparked whenever Toru would touch him. He wasn't sure how Toru managed to get them both unclothed so goddamn fast. Or why he was acting so rushed. Then Taka figured he was probably just as excited for sex as Taka was, and went with it. Taka had decided long, long ago that foreplay was overrated. Why bother with that when sex felt so good.

Toru reached above them to grab the lube, placing it on his finger. Or was he supposed to put it on Taka. He wasn't entirely sure and just did both, just to be safe. "Are you ready?"

Taka nodded, noticing it was just Toru's finger. He was excited as hell for this. He had been waiting for what felt like forever to have sex with Toru. And it was finally in reach, probably going to happen any minute. He had heard rumours about how great being on the bottom was, and was excited to-

Then there was pain. It was like a white hot burning sensation in his ass. Surely this isn't what people raved about. And Taka began getting nervous. Nervous this wasn't going to be the enjoyable experience he thought it would be. And nervous as hell he was going to ruin Toru's first time.

"Are you ok?" Toru asked nervously, smiling down at Taka.

"Yes" Taka lied. The pain was so much, but he could _probably_ manage it. For Toru's sake. Toru would never, ever hurt him. right?

Then he felt another finger enter him. And the pain was significantly worse. He began having a debate of whether or not he should just back of right now. But Toru was looking down at him, smiling, and his insides were turning to the usual mush whenever Toru looked at him so lovingly.

But what the fuck was Toru doing to his actual insides. This was painful as hell. So he just laid there, excessively focused on smiling up at Toru. He was so in love with Toru. He made a vow, to not ruin Toru's first time. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if this wasn't an enjoyable experience for Toru. And how much bigger was Toru's dick than two fingers? And why the hell was he moving them around inside? Is this like fingering? Did all the girls he's fingered in the past feel this pain before sex? He couldn't even think, the pain was too goddamn great. So he continued laying there, smiling at Toru.

"Are you ready?" Toru asked. He saw Taka smiling and nodding, and removed his fingers. He went to go grab a condom, rolled it on, added more lube then placed himself between Taka's spread out legs. "Are you sure you're ready?"

"Yes, I love you, now hurry up and fuck me" Taka laughed, looking up at Toru hovered over top of him. He looked _so good_ , and he loved Toru _so much_. And he had _mostly_ forgotten about how painful the fingering was earlier.

Then he remembered as soon as he felt the same kind of white hot pain again. He wanted to cry, and scream out as the pain was even worse than before.

But he loved Toru. And Toru loved him. It would get better, right? He just needed to relax and stop thinking of the pain. He still had a massive boner, and maybe that was a good sign? That even though he was freaking the fuck out, he was still turned on? So he laid there, smiling up at Toru, who looked so goddamn overcome with lust. He couldn't ruin this for him. So he began trying to thrust, even though that made the pain worse. Taka continued looking up, smiling as Toru apparently got the message.

Toru's breathing hitched when Taka began thrusting. Being inside Taka felt so so soo good, he just cursed that his parents were home. he wanted to let out loud moans adn groans, listen to Taka's moans and groans. The friction between them was absolutely amazing. He couldn't even believe he was scared of this, so he thrust harder, trying to get deeper. He also figured he should give Taka a handjob, because what was he actually meant to do with Taka's dick during this amazing experience.

Taka closed his eyes, trying to focus exclusively on the hand job. The pain inside him was a lot. He could feel it in his spine and he felt like he was being split in two. His legs were stretched out widely, awkward as they had never been in this position. So he kissed Toru, trying to relax himself. Toru was enjoying this so much, and he loved being able to get Toru off. Even if it was painful as hell for him.

But back to focusing on the handjob, focus exclusively on the handjob. And the kissing. Toru was so good at kissing, and so good at handjobs, could they just do that and forget about the sex. He could feel himself getting closer, unsure how that was possible, considering he felt like he was forcing himself to enjoy it. And Toru was speeding up his thrusts, causing even more pain. At least this would be over soon. He began biting down on Toru's neck. Fuck this hurt so goddamn much, he wanted to it be over. He heard Toru's breathing get louder, heavier, so he continued sucking and biting his neck harder. Taka was so close from the handjob, he decided to not bother trying not to cum. He continued sucking on Toru's neck, and felt himself let go.

And it was an alright orgasm. Nothing to write home about. Not worth the absolute agony he just experienced to reach it.

Then he felt Toru collapse on top of him, letting out small moans as he probably also came undone. And he felt resentful.

Why the fuck did he ever agree to be on the bottom.

Why the fuck did Takeru ever talk about how good this is. 

The jolts of pleasure, the full body orgasms, blissful pleasure. All Taka felt was full body pain, and anger that he just accepted he would be the one receiving.

Toru pulled out of Taka, and kissed his forehead before removing the condom and handing him a kleenex.

"Thanks" Taka croaked out, his voice was weak, surprised he could talk at all. He was still laying in the same place as he cleaned the semen off his stomach. Everything fucking hurt. He didn't want to move.

"Are you ok?" Toru asked, his voice quivered when he saw Taka didn't have his usual post-coital glow to him.

"Yea" Taka whimpered. A pathetic lie. He wasn't sure why he bothered lying. It's not like Toru would actually believe it. He felt his lower lip begin to quiver, and his eyes stung as he tried his best to blink back tears. He tried to put his legs back together, hips sore from being rammed into. He heard a creaking noise from them as he rolled onto his side to face Toru.

"I'm sorry" Toru whimpered, wiping the tears of Taka's face. "I messed up, I'm so sorry"

"I'm so sorry" Taka cried, burying his face into Toru's chest. "I'm sorry Toru"

"I love you Taka…" Toru said quietly, stroking Taka's back as he sobbed. He kept trying to figure out if he had misread the signs, it was so good for him. And Taka was looking up, smiling at him through the entire experience. Why was Taka so upset and saying sorry? So he decided it would be best if he held Taka closely, trying to comfort him.

He wasn't sure how long he held Taka, who was sobbing uncontrollably and kept saying sorry repeatedly before they eventually fell asleep. Maybe Taka would feel better in the morning?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taka's a stubborn idiot.   
> Toru can't figure out what he did wrong.

Toru was woken up by his alarm clock. He rolled over to turn it off, then turned the face Taka again. His eyes were red and puffy, and tears stained his cheeks. Toru stroked his cheeks and tried to give a reassuring smile. "Are you ok?"

Taka didn't answer, he let out a sigh and looked at the hickey he had accidentally given to Toru. He could feel Toru's arm underneath his side, probably completely numb. He slowly sat up, his whole body ached. His hips were stiff as if he had aged 50 years, his back hurt from the awkward sleeping position, on the floor nonetheless, his eyes were sore from crying. And his ass felt like it had been ripped apart. Sitting was painful, so he opted to get off the futon and stand. Which probably made things worse, but he figured he should suck it up, and put on some clothes before going downstairs.

"I love you Taka" Toru said quietly, getting off the floor and putting on his own clothes. "I never meant to hurt you.

Taka looked at Toru for a few seconds, resentful that Toru wasn't in the same pain he was in, "wear a different shirt. You have a massive hickey…" 

"Taka. Can we talk?" Toru asked, walking towards Taka and hugging him. He felt Taka flinch before going stiff, not hugging back. "I love you so much… I'm so sorry if I hurt you… I tried…."

"We can talk when we get back to Tokyo" Taka whimpered, packing up his stuff. He looked at his phone, "we're supposed to meet Ryota soon…" 

Toru sighed, he flipped open his own phone and saw he had a bunch of messages from Ryota. Mostly asking for sex details. He felt Taka leaning over his shoulder, reading the messages. "What do I tell him?"

"That you had sex?" Taka cracked a weak smile before exiting the bedroom. He regretted the decision to bring a backpack with him, the added weight on his body was killing him, but he grinned and beared it before going downstairs. 

* * *

Ryota, Toru and Taka were all standing around, waiting for the bullet train to arrive. Ryota was giving Toru a once over, looking for some kind of sign he had sex. Toru was trying his best to not make it too obvious he was staring at Taka, who appeared to be sulking and uncomfortable.

The train came, and they sat in their reserved seats. Taka was against the window again, with Toru sat between him and Ryota. 

"So Toru…" Ryota said as they all got settled. "You have any announcements?" 

"I had sex" Toru responded quietly. Partly because he didn't want to alert other passengers to his night last night. Partly because Taka was so miserable he didn't want to feel like he was showing off that it was so good for him. 

"With who?" Ryota prompted. 

"I don't think she wants people to know.." Toru answered. 

"So I know her?" Ryota asked, trying to think of girls he remembered from Osaka. 

"I guess you could say that" Toru responded. 

"And was it a one time thing?" Ryota asked. 

"I don't know…" Toru admitted, telling the truth for once. "I don't want it to be, but. I don't know" 

"Are people always this goddamn miserable after losing their virginity?" Ryota asked, inviting Taka into the conversation. 

Taka looked up from his phone, he didn't really want anything to do with this conversation, but he put on an act for Ryota's sake. Like he had put on an act for Toru's sake. "Occasionally, I guess. Was it at least good?" 

Toru was afraid of facing Taka. He didn't want to be reminded how upset Taka looked right now, knowing it was his fault. So he just rested his head back on the headrest and stared ahead. "it was for me, but I think I did it wrong" 

"How can you do it wrong?" Ryota asked, feeling way out of his league in this conversation. 

"Bad communication, probably her fault..." Taka sighed, flipping his phone open to continue texting. He wasn't sure what to do, and figured he may as well force Takeru to listen to his problems upon returning to Tokyo. 

"Are you ok, Taka?" Ryota asked, noticing Taka was being short with Toru. He had never seen Taka be short with Toru. They were always getting along. 

"Yes" Taka groaned, getting out his ipod and putting on headphones. "I'm just gonna sleep for the rest of the journey…" 

"Is he ok?" Ryota asked, turning his attention to Toru  

"I don't know" Toru responded awkwardly, feeling terrible about everything. Hurting Taka, Taka blaming himself, he decided to just get out his novel and at least pretend to study until they arrived in Tokyo. 

* * *

"So, are you gonna tell me more about it at our dorm? Or are we all going to Taka's apartment as a band for your announcement?" Ryota asked upon returning to Tokyo.

"I'm going to Takeru's house for a bit" Taka responded. He was trying to avoid Toru's eye contact, staring at the ground. 

Toru looked over at Taka and felt his stomach sink. If he went to Takeru looking this miserable, Toru would be in big trouble with takeru. Even if Taka never mentioned the sex, he had told Takeru he wanted to have birthday sex with Taka. So he figured he was probably going to be murdered by Takeru regardless of what Taka would or wouldn't say. 

* * *

Taka showed up to Takeru's house, and didn't even bother knocking. He decided to just unlock the door, walk in and plop himself on the couch.

Takeru watched Taka groaning on the couch, looking like a mess. "Are you ok…?" 

"Do I look ok?" Taka snapped. 

Takeru sighed, sitting on his coffee table. "What's wrong Taka?" 

"Everything" Taka began crying. 

Takeru sighed heavily, thinking about all the different ways he could kill Toru. "Start from the beginning" 

Taka tried to get himself together, debating about what he was going to tell Takeru. "I had sex... with a guy... I really... really like him... But it hurt. A lot..."

Takeru watched as Taka could barely make sentences due to crying so hard, and crouched in front of him, stroking his arm. "Were you on the bottom?" 

Taka nodded, trying to stop himself from crying. "It hurt so much. I didn't even feel good. Why did it hurt so much?" 

"Your first time always hurts" Takeru sighed, "just do it again, it'll feel better" 

"I can't" Taka cried, shaking his head. "It hurt so much. I can't even look at him without thinking how painful it was. How painful it still is. I think i need to break up with him…" 

"NO!" Takeru responded quickly, remembering how terrified Toru was about that. "Just call Toru, ask him to meet at your apartment, and try again" 

Taka suddenly stopped crying, trying to think. "I purposely never gave you a name…" 

Takeru realised he had slipped and began trying to backtrack. "You were just in Osaka. For Toru's birthday. I assumed it was him you had sex with…" 

Taka sat up, ignoring the pain in his ass, "I don't think I told you it was Toru's birthday?" 

"Yea you did" Takeru answered awkwardly, unable to remember if he was lying, "you said that's why you were going to Osaka…" 

"Oh" Taka responded, suddenly not sure if he did tell Takeru. He laid back down, as sitting was painful and he had just been sitting for 2 hours on a train. 

Takeru sighed, "just call him. Ask him to try again. Relax yourself before doing it. You're overreacting, as usual. It's all going to be ok"

Taka shook his head, "I can't do it. It hurt so much" 

"Was it worth the pain though?" Takeru asked.

"No" Taka began crying again. "It hurt so much. It hurt during, it hurt afterwards, and it still fucking hurts. There was literally nothing that felt good. Other than the handjob. But the handjob wasn't worth the pain" 

"No sudden jolts of pleasure?" Takeru asked awkwardly. 

"No" Taka answered. "I kept waiting for one, and nothing happened. The pain never subsided. It was horrible, Takeru. I don't want to even try doing it again" 

"You've liked Toru for so goddamn long. And he loves you Taka. He wouldn't be putting up with your goddamn hourly mood swings if he didn't" Takeru sighed. "Make a day of it or something. Drink wine, light candles, do dinner. Then try again when you're more relaxed" 

Taka sighed heavily, glaring at Takeru. This wasn't the conversation he was expecting to be having. Takeru was supposed to be reminding him of all the previous times Toru had hurt him. The date, the forgetting about the date, all the times he yelled he's not even gay. Not trying to tell Taka that Toru was in love with him. How did he even know that. So he figured he may as well pretend to take Takeru's advice. Or actually take the wine advice. Maybe that would dull the excruciating pain he was in. 

"You better call him to try again!" Takeru called out as Taka left his house. 

"Of course I will…" Taka lied, knowing full well he was probably going to go home, get drunk and fall asleep crying again. At least the bed would be comfortable this time.

* * *

"Holy shit" Ryota remarked as Toru was getting changed.

"What?" Toru asked, turning around with his shirt still off. 

"You have a hickey" Ryota answered. 

Toru groaned, looking at himself in the mirror. "Yea, I got it while having sex" 

"Do you feel different since having sex?" Ryota asked. 

"I guess" Toru responded, putting on a fresh tshirt and going to lay on his bed, hugging a stuffed koala. 

"I didn't wanna say anything in front of Taka… but… i am really glad you've finally moved on from whatever you had with him..." Ryota admitted. 

Toru didn't even bother responding to that, and opted to just open his phone to call Alex.

"Hey, are you ok?" He asked as soon as Alex answered, remembering he was a mess before they left. "Jesus fucking christ… you're already having rebound sex?" 

Ryota looked at Toru weirdly, wondering who he was calling. 

Toru mouthed "alex" before going back to his conversation. "Anyway, I have news for you and we need to talk" 

Ryota couldn't actually hear what Alex was saying, but he heard Alex suddenly begin screaming and laughing on the other end as Toru rolled his eyes and groaned. 

"Yes. I did, but I need your advice" Toru groaned loudly, "I'll tell you everything when i get to your place. I'll be there soon"

"What was that about?" Ryota laughed, looking over at Toru. 

"Told Alex I had sex. His response was predictable" Toru groaned, "I'm gonna go visit him. You study for your exam"

"Did he guess or did you tell him beforehand?" Ryota asked confused, realising Toru never explicitly said he had sex on the conversation. 

"I mentioned I was talking to a girl but wasn't sure if I would have a chance to see her" Toru responded, debating creating a list of lies he was telling. "I don't know why I thought that'd be a good idea though, because I didn't tell him anything regarding sex and he began teasing me immediately" 

"You told Alex but not me? Again?" Ryota sighed. 

"I wish I had never told him" Toru groaned, "but anyway. I suppose I have to go endure the torture of Alex teasing me. You study for your exam tomorrow" 

"Have fun" Ryota laughed, "that's your punishment for telling him and not me" 

Toru groaned, walking out of the dorm room to Alex's house. 

* * *

Toru arrived at Alex's house, and took off his winter coat as Alex admired the hickey he forgot to cover.

"Oooh, so Taka also gives out hickeys…" Alex laughed. 

"Shut up" Toru groaned, already regretting the decision to ask Alex for advice. But he had no idea who else to turn to, and Taka was busy with Takeru. 

Alex took Toru to the living area and sat down on the couch. "So Toru, tell me everything about fucking Taka" 

Toru groaned loudly, "I messed up. He hates me" 

"Oh" Alex responded awkwardly. "Was the sex bad?" 

"I liked it" Toru responded, "but Taka didn't, and he cried afterwards and now refuses to talk to me" 

"Was Taka on the bottom?" Alex laughed. 

Toru groaned, "are you gonna help me fix this or just tease me?"

"Fine. Fine" Alex sighed, "did you hit his prostate or whatever?" 

"His.. what?" Toru asked, confused. Takeru never used that word when giving advice. 

Alex groaned, "do you never listen to Takeru's sex stories?" 

"No" Toru answered. 

"Fine, let's get him here to teach you. Since everything I know comes from his stories…" Alex sighed, texting Takeru.

"No" Toru groaned, "he's gonna fucking kill me for hurting Taka" 

"And Taka's gonna kill you if you tell Takeru before he does, so just don't mention any names" Alex responded. "He's on his way" 

Toru sighed heavily, awaiting his fate. He wasn't sure if Taka was gonna tell Takeru about everything, but figured since Takeru knew, he was dead either way. 

Takeru showed up and saw Alex in the living area and went to go see him. Then he realised Toru was also there, and texted Taka to call him already. 

"You ok Alex?" Takeru asked, ignoring Toru.

"Yea. I just didn't think you'd show up if I told you the real reason" Alex laughed. "You see, our definitely not gay friend over here needs help with having sex with his boyfriend" 

Takeru groaned, he didn't want to be the middleman going between Taka and Toru, trying to fix their problems. But he figured he's here, he may as well try to do damage control. 

"Can I trust you two not to kill each other?" Alex asked, "because I don't need to be here, and I have exams, but Taka's gonna kill me if you two kill each other…" 

"Fine. Leave" Toru groaned, glaring at Alex as he ran upstairs. 

"So I take it you had sex with Taka…" Takeru sighed, staring at Toru. 

"I didn't mean to hurt him" Toru suddenly began crying, "I went slow, I thought I prepped him well, I asked if he was ready before starting… then afterwards he suddenly began crying and I don't know what I did wrong"

Takeru sighed heavily, he was prepared to deal with sex talk, but he didn't expect to have to console Toru. "I know, you didn't do anything wrong. It was his first time, of course it was gonna hurt him…"

"What do I do to fix it then?" Toru tried to stop crying, but he kept remembering how scared Taka looked of him, and continued. 

"Have sex again" Takeru sighed, "but do it better. Don't let him lie to you about being ready, make sure you hit his prostate, make sure he enjoys it" 

"What is a prostate?" Toru asked, feeling dumb as hell. 

Takeru sighed, this was going to be a lot more difficult that anticipated. 

Toru's phone went off partway through the conversation and saw Taka was calling. He figured he may as well pickup, grateful that Taka was at least going to talk to him. "Hey Taka, are you ok?" 

Takeru put his ear close to the phone, trying to hear what Taka was saying but it sounded like a bunch of mumbling. 

"Ok, ok. Calm down Taka, I'm just at Alex's. I'll leave now, I'll see you in a few minutes" Toru sighed, "do you want me to stay on the phone with you while I go there?" 

Takeru heard a bunch of incoherent ramblings, followed by a dropped call. He couldn't tell if Taka was mumbling or if Toru's phone was just shit. "Is he ok?"

Toru sighed, "he's drunk and called to tell me his apartment won't stop spinning. I'll go deal with him. Thank you, though…"

"Hurt him and I kill you" Takeru called out as Toru left. 

* * *

Toru arrived at Taka's apartment, unsure what kind of state Taka would be in. He decided to just enter, and found Taka laying on the couch with a bottle of wine beside him.

"You came…" Taka weakly mumbled as Toru entered the apartment. "I didn't think you'd come…" 

Toru sighed, crouching in front of Taka. "Of course I came, your apartment was spinning" 

"I think I'm drunk" Taka mumbled. 

"You're definitely drunk" Toru laughed, stroking Taka's hair. "c'mon, you should go to sleep…" 

Taka nodded weakly, taking Toru's hand and going to his bedroom. He kept stumbling everywhere, unable to walk in a straight line before Toru opted to just carry him and put him on the bed. 

Toru laid down next to Taka, who was still complaining about being dizzy and other incoherent mumblings. He wasn't even sure what the hell Taka was going on about, and eventually fell asleep


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toru tells Tomo he had sex with a girl in Osaka.  
> Tomo thinks that means he cheated on Taka.  
> Taka's miserable, furthering his "Toru's a cheat" theory  
> Taka tries to make a decision, but is indecisive as hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cried thinking of how this chapter would play out in my original plot list  
> I cried beginning to write this chapter, and kept putting off finishing it because it's painful.  
> I cried when actually writing this chapter.  
> And I'm crying now proof reading it.  
> SO ENJOY. Hopefully now that I've built it up as super sad everyone will go "not as sad as expected"

Taka was woken up by the sound of footsteps in his main room. He felt someone behind him, and turned around to see Toru, beginning to wake up. He knew he should feel comforted, but he couldn't even remember inviting Toru over the night before. He suddenly began breathing heavily, terrified about what may have happened the night before.

"Taka. Taka. Calm down. Are you ok?" Toru asked, suddenly awake after hearing Taka's panicking. He stroked Taka's cheek, only for his hand to be slapped away. .

"Did we…" Taka swallowed audibly, terrified of looking up at Toru, "did we have sex last night?"

"No" Toru answered. He tried to hug Taka to comfort him, only to be pushed away. He sighed heavily, realising Taka was still aftaid of him and wasn't sure the best way to confront this. Then he heard footsteps and groaned, realising someone was in Taka's apartment and decided to just get out of bed. "You continue sleeping, I'll deal with whoever's here"

Taka shook his head, "I'll just wake up as well…"

Toru sighed, and decided to just exit the bedroom on his own, assuming it would be either Alex or Takeru. Instead, he was greeted by Tomo and Ryota. "What are you two doing here?"

"I just finished my exam, and you never came home last night, so I assumed you'd be here…" Ryota answered. "I brought Tomo along so you could tell him your news… although I see you're doing a bad job of hiding the evidence"

Tomo looked up and noticed the hickey on Toru's neck. He assumed this was about to be a coming out party, but instead…

"Oh. Yea. I had sex" Toru admitted, covering his hickey with his hand. He heard the sound of Taka exiting the bedroom behind him, ignoring Toru and sitting on the couch beside Tomo.

"So who did you do it with?" Tomo asked expectantly.

"A girl from Osaka" Toru answered.

"Oh, congratulations" Tomo responded awkwardly, looking over at Taka, who looked to be completely miserable. He assumed Toru had had sex with Taka, but maybe that's why Taka was so upset. He didn't want to believe that Toru would cheat on Taka. It would explain the random bottle of wine on the side table though. "Sorry, are you ok Taka?"

"Yea, why?" Taka lied, glaring at Tomo.

"Ignore him" Ryota laughed, "he's probably just jealous Toru had sex with someone who isn't him"

"I'm gonna pretend I never heard that…" Taka gritted his teeth, glaring at Ryota.

"You two were getting along so well in Osaka" Toru sighed, "what the hell happened?"

"Sorry, it was a bad joke…" Ryota admitted. "I know, I know. Neither of you are gay"

"Whatever…" Taka yawned, resting his head against the armrest of the couch.

Tomo was very confused at this situation. He couldn't tell if Ryota knew that Toru cheated on him, and was making jokes at taka's expense, or if Ryota didn't know and was unaware Taka was cheated on. He couldn't think of a practical way to fix this scenario, and figured maybe Toru and Taka were already beginning to figure it out. They had shared a bed the previous night, right?

Toru walked over to Taka and shook his shoulder, "just go back to bed. You're hungover…"

"No" Taka yawned, "I feel fine…"

Toru sighed, and opted to just sit on the ground in front of Taka. He desperately wanted to just kick Ryota and Tomo out of the apartment, so him and Taka could talk things out, but Ryota and Tomo both seemed to be set up for the day. Since he couldn't get rid of them, he figured he may as well just get out his laptop and study.

"Uugh, stop making me feel bad about not studying" Ryota groaned, looking at Toru's laptop screen.

"Just leave and go study then…" Taka suggested, never moving his head off the armrest.

"Seriously Taka, are you sure you're ok?" Tomo asked, "we're your friends, you can tell us things…"

"I'm hungover, leave me alone" Taka groaned, still staring at the back of Toru's head.

"Maybe we should leave…" Tomo suggested, looking at Ryota. He figured _maybe_ Toru and Taka could fix their problems if they just talked things through without other people being there. Or Taka could use the time to dump Toru's cheating ass.

"Fine. Are you coming with us, Toru?" Ryota asked as he got up.

"No" Toru answered, "I'll stay and make sure Taka's ok"

"I already told you I'm _fine_ " Taka groaned loudly, raising his voice, head still on the armrest staring at Toru.

"Then I'll stay here and _study_ " Toru corrected himself loudly, turning around to see Taka was still in the exact same position.

"Uh. Ok. Do we still have practice tonight?" Tomo asked, looking at Toru for some kind of confirmation that everything would be ok.

"Yes" Toru answered, looking back up at Tomo.

"Feel better Taka" Ryota said quietly, wondering if perhaps Taka wasn't quite as over Toru as he claimed to be. Them practically yelling at each other was bizarre. It was unsettling to see them go from just being short and ignoring each other the day before, to actually raising their voices.

"Thanks" Taka sighed, not bothering to move.

Toru got up, locking the door behind them before going to sit next to Taka on the couch. He put his hand on Taka's knee, and felt him flinch. He instinctively removed his hand and sighed, resting back on the couch. "Was the sex that bad?"

Taka sighed, still not moving from his spot, "just study. Don't fuck up your exams over it…"

"Maybe we should just try again… it probably just hurt for the first time because you weren't used to it… " Toru suggested blinking back tears.

"No" Taka responded, sitting up for the first time. He remembered Takeru telling him the same thing, but couldn't bring himself to even think of having sex again. "I don't want to do it again…"

"We don't have to then…" Toru gulped, afraid Taka was done with him. "We can just pretend that never happened, and go back to how we used to be…"

"I'll think about it…" Taka answered, afraid of looking at Toru. He pulled his knees to his chest, resting his head on them.

Toru put his arm around Taka, pulling him closer. He felt Taka tense up again, but didn't let go "I love you Taka…"

"It hurt so much…" Taka began crying, burying his head in Toru's shoulder.

"You should have told me…" Toru responded, stroking Taka's back with his hand.

"I didn't want to ruin your first time for you…" Taka admitted, "I love you, I couldn't ruin it for you…"

Toru sighed, kissing Taka's forehead. "I love you… please don't end us over this…"

"It hurts… everytime I look at you, I remember the pain…" Taka continued crying.

"We can work past this…" Toru pleaded, "don't leave me…"

"We can try…" Taka answered.

"I love you, Taka. I'd never intentionally hurt you" Toru responded, tears falling down his face.

"I know" Taka sighed, wiping away his own tears, "but it _did_ hurt. And it still does kind of hurt…"

Toru kissed Taka's forehead, "I'm so sorry… i didn't mean to hurt you"

"Well you did" Taka snapped, pulling away from Toru, then realising Toru was looking at him shocked.

Toru looked at Taka, mouth agape, not sure what to say. He blinked back tears, Taka looked terrified of him. He didn't even know how to comfort Taka rignt now and slumped on the couch.

"I'm sorry" Taka said quietly, realising how shocked Toru looked. Knowing inside that everything was _his_ fault, _not_ Toru's. He closed his eyes, not sure what to do. "I'm tired, I didn't mean to snap like that…"

"Are we going to be ok?" Toru asked, looking at Taka. "I don't like it when you look at me, terrified like I'm about to hurt you"

"I want us to be ok…" Taka admitted, holding one of Toru's hands and looking at him. "I just feel like absolute crap right now… and kinda just want to sleep…"

Toru nodded, intertwining his fingers with Taka's. "You were really drunk last night… maybe you should take a nap?"

"Yea, that's probably a good idea…" Taka admitted. "Wake me up in a few hours? You should study"

"Ok" Toru weakly smiled at taka, hoping maybe things were going to work out between them.

* * *

Taka laid in bed, alone, not sure what to do about anything. He kept _trying_ to remind himself that he was at fault, not Toru; that he should take his anger out at himself, not at Toru. But his body still ached, and he couldn't tell if it was the hangover or the sex. Either way, his irrational mind kept telling him he was in pain and he was blaming it on Toru.

He loved Toru, he wouldn't have put on that stupid everything-is-ok-it-doesn't-hurt act if he didn't love Toru. The act that didn't even work, since he ended up ruining his relationship _and_ Toru's first time. He couldn't even figure out why Toru hadn't just dumped him yet. Thinking maybe he should just put Toru out of his misery, let him find a nice guy, or girl, who wouldn't be such a fucking idiot when it came to sex.

But he loved Toru so much, he burst out crying at the thought of leaving him. And Taka was selfish, he didn't want to leave Toru. Even if he thought Toru would be happier elsewhere, he was so in love with Toru he couldn't even picture himself actually being the one to dump him.

So he laid there. Staring at the ceiling until sleep finally took hold of him.

* * *

Toru was sat in Taka's living room. Trying his best to study and not stress about his messy situation with Taka. He flipped through the pages of his lit class book, only to realise he wasn't paying attention and flipped backwards to re-read the passages.

He quickly gave up on that. If he was going to manage to use this time wisely, it should be something he could do actively. So he got out his math textbook, and began doing practice problems. trying to at least do a few problems before allowing himself to fret over his current situation.

He heard the faint sound of Taka crying. His heart shattered, not knowing what to do. He knew Taka wanted to be alone, specifying that Toru should do homework, and wake him up in a few hours. He wanted desperately to just go in, hug Taka, but Taka had been so terrified when they woke up in bed together that day.

So he sat there, doing math problems and crying while listening to Taka cry. He wished Taka would just open up to him, stop flinching so they could just talk things through. But Taka was notoriously bad at communicating, and he knew this when he got into the relationship. And he had loved Taka anyway, knowing he too had communication issues when it came to certain subjects.

Toru blamed himself. For not noticing that Taka wasn't enjoying the sex. He kept trying to replay it in his mind, but it was hazy. He remembered feeling good, and the kissing and smiling. He even remembered asking Taka if he was ok and ready, and he got a yes. So why the hell was he dumb enough to not realise Taka must have been lying.

He returned focus to his math problems, hopefully easier than his relationship problems. But they weren't, so he stared at the numbers and letters on the page. Remembering the time Taka watched him do homework, and thought it was Greek. Probably the first time him and Takeru actually had a conversation that wasn't just bickering. Why the fuck didn't he just listen to Takeru's sex stories. Alex knew more about gay sex than he did, all because of listening to those stories. And now that he actually had answers, Taka no longer wanted to even try having sex.

He felt his stomach rumble, realising Taka probably wasn't going to be making him lunch. Or dinner. Or a midnight snack.

What the fuck. How did it get to be past midnight. He tried thinking what time they woke up, what time he was meant to wake up Taka. But he realised they were going to be late for practice if they didn't leave, so he got up, knocking on Taka's bedroom door.

"What?" Taka sighed, being woken up by Toru knocking.

"Uhh… I lost track of time" Toru admitted,  standing in the doorway, scratching the back of his neck, "like. Really lost track of time. And we're gonna be late for rehearsal"

Taka looked at Toru confused, and looked at the time on his clock, "what the fuck? How did you lose track of time that badly?"

"I don't know" Toru admitted, "but we should get going before rehearsal…"

* * *

Ryota and Tomo showed up first for rehearsal, discussing random things before Alex entered.

"Are Toru and Taka not here yet?" Alex asked nervously, looking at his watch. He was barely on time, and now Toru and Taka were officially late. He hadn't talked to Toru since he left him with Takeru, but Takeru said Toru left to go check on a drunken Taka.

"No" Ryota answered.

"Taka was in a bad mood today when we went to see him…" Tomo said quietly, unsure what anyone else knew about their situation.

"Apparently he got drunk last night" Alex informed him. "He was probably just hungover"

Toru and Taka entered awkwardly 10 minutes late, earning weird looks from everyone.

"Lost track of time studying…" Toru mumbled, earning an even weirder look from Alex.

"Do you have to give yourself a strike?" Ryota laughed, looking at Toru.

"No, the leader doesn't get strikes" Toru sighed, still in a horrible mood. And he knew Alex was thinking that was a lie, even if it was the truth, "let's just practice"

"Taka gets strikes" Ryota pointed out.

Toru sighed, looking over at Taka, who visibly flinched when Toru walked near him, "no, anyone who is late with the leader is also exempt"

"Unfair…" Ryota muttered, looking at Taka. He looked all small and scared, reminding him of when they were in the storage closet. He wasn't sure what was going on with Taka, but the look Toru was giving him said 'leave it alone', so he did.

* * *

"Can I come over?" Toru asked nervously as he packed up his stuff and walked over to Taka.

Taka sighed, "i think I need time away from you…"

Toru closed his eyes, trying his best not to cry and swallowed the lump in his throat. "I thought we were going to be ok…"

"I just need some space for a night…" Taka sighed, feeling uneasy about his mental debate earlier.

"I still love you…" Toru said quietly, unaware to the sound of the door opening. He went to put his arm around Taka, only for Taka to flinch away. "Why do you keep flinching?"

"I just look at you and feel hurt" Taka admitted, also unaware they were no long alone.

"I never meant to hurt you…" Toru began crying. "You're the most important person to me"

"I know. And I still love you. I just need space to think for a bit…" Taka admitted. He gave Toru a pat on the arm but denied him a kiss.

"I'm really sorry, Taka…" Toru said, looking into Taka's eyes. Unaware the third person was leaving the room.

"It's not your fault" Taka reassured him, "I should have told you how painful it was…"

"I should have known" Toru responded.

"It's fine, I told you I was ready when I wasn't" Taka admitted. He reached up to give Toru a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving. "Come by my apartment tomorrow if you have a chance"

Hoping he would have a decision by tomorrow.

"Ok" Toru responded, letting Taka leave.

Taka left the room and found Tomo waiting outside awkwardly. "I thought you already left?"

"I forgot my drumsticks in the room… but the door's locked and I don't remember the code…" Tomo lied.

"Oh" Taka responded awkwardly, "it's 10969. One o ku ro ku. Easy to remember"

"Thanks" Tomo responded, entering the room and grabbing his drumsticks.

Toru looked up and saw Tomo enter the room, mumbling something about drumsticks before picking them up and leaving.

"Do you wanna come over tonight?" Taka asked, worried he'd go insane if left alone with his thoughts all night. "I'll let you sleep in my bed. I've had rave reviews about it from both Alex and Toru"

"Is Toru not staying over?" Tomo asked, pretending to be oblivious to the conversation he just heard.

"No" Taka answered, "he was gonna go to the dorm to keep Ryota happy"

"Oh, ok then…" Tomo answered, following Taka home.

* * *

Taka handed Tomo a beer then laid down on the couch, bending his knees to only take half the couch.

"Are you ok?" Tomo asked nervously, looking at Taka on the other side of the couch.

"Yes, why?" Taka groaned.

"You've been kind of off since getting back from Osaka" Tomo admitted, looking down at the ground. Not wanting to let Taka know he knows, but also slightly hopeful Taka would open up. "Did something happen in Osaka?"

"No" Taka responded, trying to think of a subject to change to but being distracted by Tomo continuing talking.

"Are you jealous of Toru having sex with someone else?" Tomo asked awkwardly, pretending to be oblivious and recalling Ryota's earlier comment.

Taka sighed, glaring at Tomo. Maybe being left alone with his thoughts would have been better, "Why would I be jealous?"

"Ryota said it earlier today..." Tomo responded, looking at the ground.

"Oh. Right" Taka responded, not sure what Tomo actually knew. 

"Do you know what he meant by that?" Tomo asked.

Taka sighed heavily, "what do you know?"

"Nothing?" Tomo lied, continuing with his oblivious act.

"Nothing?" Taka asked for confirmation, "not about Osaka. Have Ryota or Alex never mentioned anything… weird... about Toru and I?"

"I mean. They do often… but I've never really understood…" Tomo said quietly, thinking back to when he first had the idea of Toru and Taka dating.

"Oh. Ok. I thought for sure one of them would have slipped to you by now…" Taka admitted, figuring he may as well explain Ryota's references. "I once went on a date with Toru"

Tomo looked up, wondering if Taka was about to confess to him.

"It was years ago" Taka sighed, "Takeru and Alex set us up. I guess Alex told Ryota and now I never hear the end of it from either of them"

"Wait. Years ago..." Tomo realised, "before you joined the band?"

"Yea..." Taka nodded, "that's kinda why I didn't want to join the band.... it felt weird. I didn't want to have to spend time with him..."

"What happened?" Tomo asked, unsure how they went from going on a date to Taka not wanting to soend time with him, to being in a relationship.

"He ended the date by yelling he wasn't gay immediately after we were kissing" Taka laughed, realising Toru would probably do the same thing today if given a chance. "And then I never saw him again until he began stalking me to join the band"

"So nothing's currently going on between you two?" Tomo asked, giving Taka an opportunity to come clean.

"Nope" Taka lied, finishing his beer. "He had sex with a girl in Osaka, remember?"

"Right" Tomo nodded, feeling bad that Toru cheated on him. Yet he couldn't even express that since Taka didn't even know that Tomo knew about it. "Do you know anything about her?"

"Not really" Taka responded, "I think she's friends with him? It may be a relationship? I didn't really ask him many questions..."

Tomo nodded, trying his best to express sympathy to Taka without actually telling Taka he knows Toru cheated.

"Stop looking at me like a broken puppy" Taka groaned, "I told you the date story because I felt bad you were in the dark, not because I actually have feelings for Toru"

Tomo wasn't sure how to respond, figuring either Taka was lying about not having feelings, or lying to Toru about still being in love with him. He decided to continue to feign ignorance and pretend to be tired and went to bed.

He got into Taka's bed on the opposite side, and did notice the bed was incredibly comfortable. He almost fell asleep instantly before noticing Taka crying. He wasn't sure what to do, he couldn't bring up the Toru thing after Taka specifically said he didn't like Toru. So he decided to just pretend to be asleep, feeling like like worst friend.

Taka was laying in bed, unable to sleep due to sleeping most of the day. So he stared at his clock, going back to his debate on leaving Toru and crying. Thinking Toru was also better of without him. Just like everyone else.

He assumed Tomo was asleep, otherwise he'd be bombarded with concern and questions. And he'd have to lie about everything. He hated lying to Tomo. Understanding that Tomo just wanted to help and be a friend, but knowing he couldn't tell the truth. He hated having to hide his relationship, not that there was much of a relationship left.

But the thought of no more Toru was so goddamn upsetting. He got up quietly, and grabbed Toru's apparently stolen sweater from his sweater. He wasn't hot, but he had began to realise it smelt like Toru, so he laid in bed, cuddling with the sweater. As if it were a teddy bear or something. He was so torn he could barely think, getting tired and falling asleep as he tried to continue debating his decision.

Hopefully he could make up his mind before Toru came over the next day.

* * *

"Oh, I assumed you were going to stay over at Taka's…" Ryota admitted as Toru entered their dorm room.

"No" Toru answered, getting into bed with his koala stuffie and not bothering to think of a lie. Wishing he didn't even need to think of lies. That the sex had gone better, and they would have come clean to Ryota and Tomo. Like they had been planning to once Taka and Ryota got along.

"What's going on with him?" Ryota asked, turning to face Toru. "He's been really off the past couple of days..."

Toru groaned, beginning to try and think of a lie. "He gets like this sometimes. Excessively moody, it passes"

"I think he likes you" Ryota chuckled, "he seems like he's jealous since you had sex with a girl"

Toru groaned, praying that Taka still liked him. "I had sex the day before my birthday, while you two were out. I told Taka about it after he got back. He was fine on my birthday, so it's not that"

"Oh" Ryota responded awkwardly, having a wrench thrown in his idea. "Then why's he been so moody?"

"I don't know" Toru lied, "i think he misses his family maybe? He made a comment that everyone's families were really happy. His parents are divorced, and he never sees them anymore, he was probably just upset by seeing happy families? I don't know"

"When we were in the closet, he told me he ran away…" Ryota admitted.

"He did, yea" Toru answered, impressed with his ability to come up with a reasonable lie. "What did actually happen in there? He hasn't told me much"

Ryota laughed, "are you jealous that your two best friends spent time together and you weren't there?"

"No..." Toru responded, "I was just curious. Did he threaten to murder you so many times you decided to just be nice?"

"Nope. No death threats, actually" Ryota chuckled, "he did go through every single box you had in there though"

"Why am I not surprised…" Toru laughed. "Is that all he did?"

"We talked" Ryota responded, "I mostly asked him questions and he answered"

Toru laughed, "did he actually answer them? Or just groan and bitch before changing the subject?"

"He answered them?" Ryota tilted his head, looking at Toru, "does he not usually answer questions?"

"Communication isn't his strong point" Toru sighed, hugging the koala, thinking of his current problems with Taka.

"What's with the teddy bear?" Ryota asked, suddenly realising Toru was hugging a bear on his chest, "do you always sleep with a stuffie? I don't know if I've just noticed it recently, or if it's always been there"

"I got it in Osaka" Toru replied, looking at the koala on his chest.

"Did your girlfriend give it to you?" Ryota teased.

"Yes" Toru lied, "it was a birthday gift from her"

"What's going on with that?" Ryota asked, "I haven't heard much about it"

Toru sighed heavily, realising he should have claimed it was from an arcade or something. Not that that would have been a better explanation for a 17 year old sleeping with a stuffed animal. "I don't really know. I've texted with her a few times since getting back"

"So she is a girlfriend then?" Ryota asked.

"I don't actually know" Toru sighed, "I like her. She likes me. But I don't really wanna talk about it…"

"It is late…" Ryota sighed, realising that was probably as good an answer he would ever get. 

"Yea… good night" Toru sighed, rolling over to face the wall and hugging his koala closely. Wondering if maybe Taka would like a Gachapin stuffie, if they ever got over their current mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure: I'm in my twenties and wrote most of this whilst hugging a stuffie for comfort.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tomo is upset that Taka is upset.   
> Taka and Takeru cuddle in bed.   
> Taka talks to Toru.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Taka/Takeru scene was thrown in on a whim and honestly it felt so cute the rest of this fic now takes place in Taka's bedroom. 
> 
> Just kidding. Maybe. I've only rewritten one other scene so far to be similar.

Toru showed up to Taka's the next morning, and found Tomo already set up on the couch. He inwardly groaned, having expected he was going to spend time alone with Taka. He decided to just sit down in between them, and try to ignore Taka's flinch as he did so.

Tomo looked over towards Taka and saw him flinch, and began to feel some kind of deep seated hatred towards Toru. Because how the hell could he cheat on Taka? Taka looked so broken and scared, and had cried all night, holding Toru's sweater no less; he could barely believe Toru was actually capable of hurting someone like that.

"Just finished my last exam!" Alex said proudly, barging into the unit as usual. He grabbed a beer from Taka's fridge and sat down on the coffee table.

"Congrats" Taka sighed.

"I haven't even had my first one" Toru groaned.

"Then get studying…" Taka answered, not looking at Toru.

Toru glared at Taka for a few seconds, followed by Alex giving them a concerned look  "move, I'm gonna use the coffee table for studying…"

Alex got up, sitting down where Toru had previously been. He wanted to just kick them both, tell them to have sex again, and stop bickering at each other. But Tomo was in the room, and he knew Taka and Toru would definitely murder him for letting Tomo know.

Ryota entered the apartment a few minutes later, sitting down on the floor beside Toru.

"What are you doing here?" Tomo asked, looking at Ryota confused.

"Making sure Taka's alright…" Ryota answered, looking back at Taka.

"Yea, I'm good" Taka lied as an answer. Still not entirely sure what he was planning on doing.

"Toru told me you miss your family and such…" Ryota admitted, giving Taka a smile.

Taka could feel Alex looking at him weirdly as he saw Toru turn around and mouth 'sorry'. "Ah, yea. Holidays and stuff. It's hard"

"But we're like your family now, right?" Ryota offered, smiling.

"You're like our mom, making us food all the time" Tomo laughed.

"Yes! And Toru's our dad, the one who disciplines us for doing dumb things" Ryota added on, laughing, ignoring the implications of that sentence.

Alex chuckled out loud, as everyone turned to stare at him. "Nothing. Nothing. Neither of them are gay, right?"

"Right" Taka lied, watching as Toru turned his gaze from Alex to him.

"Anyway…" Alex laughed awkwardly, looking down at his phone. "I'm gonna go have sex"

Toru groaned, "wasn't I meant to discipline you for doing dumb things?"

"Such judgement from a guy who just had a one night stand in Osaka…" Alex smirked, looking at Toru.

"Fine, do what you want…" Toru groaned, glaring at Alex as he left.

"So it was a one time thing?" Ryota asked, looking at Toru.

Toru sighed, "it's still complicated… we're trying to make things work"

"I get it" Ryota nodded, "long distance relationships sound hard…"

"Yea…" Toru responded, going back to his studying.

"Parents want me to go home. Apparently my grandma's over" Tomo sighed, reading his phone. 

"Oh, have fun" Taka smiled at Tomo.

"I should probably also go" Ryota sighed, "lots of studying to be doing…"

Tomo suddenly felt nervous about the thought of leaving Toru and Taka on their own. He was mostly worried Taka was gonna kill Toru for trying to make it work with the other woman, when he was also trying to make it work with Taka. But he figured Toru probably deserved it if that was the case so he left with Ryota.

"You should tell Alex the story of fhe one night stand actually being a relationship" Taka sighed, pulling his knees to his chest.

"Are you ok?" Toru asked, watching as Taka made himself into a ball. 

Taka closed his eyes. Exhausted from crying all night. Still torn between letting Toru find someone else, and being selfish. "I'm gonna take a nap. You study"

"Do you want me to wake you up later?" Toru offered.

"No" Taka groaned, "don't disturb me unless I accidentally sleep through rehearsal again"

Toru watched as Taka got up to go to his bedroom, and heard the crying start right away this time. He began also crying, not sure if Taka would forgive him for their mess of a situation. Then he heard the front door opening, and figured he'd get up and make sure they didn't disturb Taka.

"Oh, hi" Toru sighed, seeing Takeru in the genkan. Beginning to sweat at the thought of Takeru hearing Taka crying while he did nothing. This was definitely his last day on earth if Taka's crying started again. "Taka's napping"

"Oh…" Takeru responded nervously, noticing Toru was crying. "Is he ok?"

"I have no idea" Toru whimpered.

"Has anything improved since last we talked?" Takeru asked.

"No" Toru shook his head. "He wouldn't let me stay over last night. He said I could come by today, but everyone else was here when I got here. He was in a mood, and as soon as everyone left he said he was taking a nap and I shouldn't disturb him"

Takeru sighed, "have you talked to him at all?"

"Not really" Toru admitted. "Can you talk to him maybe? He's been crying in his room but he specifically told me not to disturb him…"

Takeru groaned, "so I can fix your relationship for you?"

"He doesn't want to see me" Toru whimpered, "but you're his best friend. Maybe he'll want to talk to you"

"Does he know that you told me?" Takeru asked.

"No" Toru responded. "I know he went to your place upon getting back to Osaka… so I assume he told you… but he hasn't wanted to talk to me since we got back"

"Stop keeping secrets from him" Takeru sighed, "I'll go talk to him for you. This time only"

"Thanks" Toru weakly smiled.

"I only help for Taka's sake, not for yours" Takeru groaned, "if I find out that you're in anyway at fault, you're fucking dead"

Toru gulped, afraid of everything as he watched Takeru walk over to Taka's bedroom and knocked before entering.

* * *

Taka was in fetal position, curled up and crying hysterically. He wasn't sure what possessed him to change into a bunch of clothes that were probably Toru's, but he did. So he was on his bed, crying hysterically while swimming in clothes that were twice his size.

Thinking of how he was going to manage to break up with Toru.

The fact that he even thought this was a good idea, told him he should probably stop getting Toru's hopes up. Let him down quickly. But first he needed to cry hysterically, get all of his tears out before going to actually do it. Maybe then he wouldn't be a blubbering mess in front of Toru. He heard the sound of the door opening, and stopped crying, straining trying to hear whoever was at the door.

Then he heard Takeru's voice… talking with Toru? He couldn't figure out what they were saying, it sounded like whispers, but he knew this meant he had to stop crying. He may be seriously considering dumping Toru, but he didn't want Takeru to murder Toru. So he stared at the ceiling, stretching his arms out, trying to breathe deeply and calm himself.

Then there were knocks on his bedroom door, and what the fuck. Did Toru not understand the 'do not disturb' rule applied to everyone. 

"I told you to not fucking disturb me" Taka yelled, hearing the bedroom door open.

"You may have told Toru that, but not me" Takeru responded, laying on his stomach beside Taka, resting his head on the elbow of Taka's outstretched arm while draping his arm across Taka. He gave Taka a once over, thinking he looked a goddamn mess. His face was streaked with tears, and his eyes were puffy and red. Then Takeru burst out laughing. "What the fuck are you wearing?"

"Shut up" Taka sighed, "I'm napping"

"You look like you're drowning in your clothes" Takeru laughed, "wait. Are they Toru's clothes?"

"Shut up would you" Taka groaned, "they're comfy, and I'm trying to nap"

"No you're not" Takeru pointed out, "you're laying in bed crying, while wearing your boyfriend's clothes. Even though your boyfriend is literally 5 feet away, in the living room. So open up. What's going on, Taka?"

"I don't wanna talk about it" Taka sighed, feeling a sense of familiarity. They used to do this all the time. Back when 'I'm upset' wasn't a direct translation of 'bring me vodka'. Even if, later on, bringing vodka would often lead to this. Laying close together, using each other's limbs as pillows while either discussing their problems, or telling the other stories to cheer them up. "distract me from my problems. Tell me about your own"

"I actually talk to my boyfriend, and thus we currently have no problems" Takeru sighed, "maybe you should do the same"

"How was that meant to distract me from my problems?" Taka groaned, turning his head to face Takeru "Tell me a good story or something"

"I came here to check on you. Not to tell you about the amazing sex I had last night when my boyfriend fucked me into oblivion" Takeru deadpanned, "speaking of sex. Have you done it again yet?"

"No" Taka groaned, "I already told you. I'm not doing that again"

Takeru flicked his forehead, "just do it"

"I can't decide if I should break up with him or not" Taka sighed, only to be flicked by Takeru again. "What the fuck? Stop flicking me. Did you _not_ want me to open up to you?"

"You're being dumb and stubborn" Takeru sighed, "why the fuck would you break up with him?"

"So he can find someone better" Taka admitted, "someone who's less dumb and stubborn. Willing to have sex with him"

"Then do it" Takeru offered. "If you don't love him, you should dump him"

"But I do love him" Taka groaned, "that's my dilemma"

"Then have sex with him" Takeru sighed, "not sure what you want me to say"

"That I should dump him because I'm being selfish as hell?" Taka suggested, crying again.

"I literally said that 5 seconds ago" Takeru sighed, inching closer and resting his head on Taka's shoulder. "You didn't want to listen to my advice" 

"I love him" Taka cried, "but he should be with someone who _wants_ to have sex with him"

"I'm still back and forth with my thoughts on your dumb as hell situation" Takeru admitted, "but if you love him. He loves you"

"Stop saying that" Taka groaned, glaring at Takeru.

"What? That your situation is dumb as hell? Or that your boyfriend loves you?" Takeru asked.

"Yes" Taka answered, "why the fuck do you keep telling me he loves me? Shouldn't you go back to your life mission of convincing me he's straight?"

"I used to have a pathetic crush on you" Takeru admitted.

"I kinda knew that" Taka laughed awkwardly, suddenly realising how weird their position would be if they hadn't cried together in this exact position thousands of times before, "why are you telling me this now?"

"Listen to my story, would you?" Takeru sighed. "Did you not want to hear one?"

"Fine. Fine. Go ahead" Taka responded, looking at Takeru as he told his story.

"You're a lot of fucking effort. You're stubborn as hell. You _always_ ruin good things by either overthinking or making dumb, impulsive decisions. There is no in between with you. And your mood. Oh god" Takeru laughed, "What the fuck is with your random mood swings. You're needy, then you get pissed when someone gives you attention. You fuck things up for yourself, then drink too much to deal with your mistakes. You push people, then get pissed when they push back-"

"Sorry, are you trying to make me feel better or worse?" Taka groaned, cutting off Takeru's list of things wrong with him.

"And eventually I realised you'd be _too much_ effort. Even if by some miracle, you returned the feelings, I'd be done with you and your shit before we ever reached the week mark" Takeru chuckled before turning serious, "but Toru puts up with you, and all your fucking issues. So even if I still fucking hate him for shattering your heart years ago, and think you were dumb as hell to let him back in your life. It did work out this time. I concede, he loves you"  

Taka sighed, glaring at Takeru for being so good at forcing him to think through his problems without having to actually communicate. He rolled onto his side to be actually facing Takeru, and put his arm around his waist. "You are a really good friend. I don't think I thank you enough for putting up with all my shit through the years"

"Also he told me about your relationship before you went to Osaka" Takeru added on, just to see Taka's reaction.

"What?" Taka yelled, sitting up in bed. "What the fuck. What"

Takeru laughed hysterically at Taka's predictable reaction, "he was worried about having sex with you and asked me for advice on how to have gay sex. Then he also asked me for advice afterwards, albeit Alex forced him, and tricked me into that. And he's sitting in the main area crying over hearing you crying, and not being sure what to do about it"

"He's crying?" Taka asked, beginning to cry again.

"Yea" Takeru responded, sitting up. "So I don't really know what you should do regarding sex, other than do it again-"

"I'm not doing it again" Taka snapped, glaring at Takeru.

"see what I mean by stubborn as hell with mood swings?" Takeru sighed, "he literally puts up with me threatening to kill him at the end of every conversation, just to get advice on you. And you know what scared him even mkre than sex?"

"No?" Taka answered, looking confused.

"That things would change and you would dump him" Takeru responded.

Taka sighed, "he told me he was afraid things would change the week before we left…"

"Yea, so why the fuck have I heard you bring up dumping him twice?" Takeru asked.

"Because I thought he wouldn't want to be with me" Taka admitted. "And it'd be easier if I dumped him first"

Takeru sighed, "let him make that decision. Talk to him not to me"

"Ok. I will" Taka smiled, "thanks for helping me"

"Well. I'm gonna go get fucked, think of doing the same?" Takeru laughed, getting off the bed.

Taka sighed, getting off the bed and leaving the bedroom with Takeru, "can you lock the door behind you when you leave?"

"Yes" Takeru laughed, leaving the apartment.

Taka sat down on the couch next to Toru, watching as he pulled his earbuds out. "Did you hear anything?"

"I didn't wanna eavesdrop in your conversation" Toru admitted. "Is everything ok?"

"You told Takeru?" Taka playfully shoved Toru, laughing hysterically.

"I'm sorry…" Toru responded nervously, "I was nervous before sex, and didn't know where to find answers, and he showed up, and it was a dumb as hell idea i'm sorry… don't hate me"

"I don't hate you" Taka laughed, "I'm just trying to picture that conversation"

"I would say he was helpful, but uhhh…" Toru trailed off awkwardly.

"Yea…" Taka sighed, resting himself against Toru.

"Why are you wearing all my clothes?" Toru laughed.

"They smell like you" Taka chuckled, thinking maybe he should have gotten changed.

"So are we ok?" Toru laughed nervously, not sure what was happening.

"Yea" Taka smiled, "I'm sorry for being a snappy, moody, bitch yesterday..."

"I love you" Toru smiled, holding Taka closely. Ignoring the snappy, moody, bitch comment. Just happy that Taka wasn't flinching away from him this time.

"I love you too" Taka responded, looking in Toru's eyes, "but I... I don't know if I want to have sex again..."

Toru kissed Taka's forehead, unsure how to respond to that. Torn between wanting to go back to normal, and wanting to at least try again.

"I know you didn't mean to hurt me..." Taka continued, trying to take the communication advice, "but... it did hurt. And the pain lingered. And everytime I looked at you, was a reminder I was in pain."

"Are you still in pain?" Toru asked, stroking Taka's hair.

"No" Taka answered, gulping audibly, "but I've spent my entire time back in Tokyo trying to decide whether or not I should leave you. So you could find someone better, who would be excited to have sex with you. I felt pain when I looked at you, and I don't want to feel that way towards you again..."

Toru held Taka closely, kissing his head. "I love _you_ Taka. There is no one better. So if you don't want to have sex... then we won't have sex"

"Thanks" Taka smiled, looking at Toru. "Also what does Alex know? Takeru mentioned Alex tricked him into giving you advice afterwards…"

"Just about everything" Toru sighed, putting his arm around Taka and kissing his forehead. "I love you so much though"

"I love you too" Taka responded, going in to kiss Toru. He felt Toru gently opening his mouth. Toru's mouth tasted like it always did, which was incredibly comforting to Taka. So he continued kissing Toru for what felt like a lifetime, enjoying the taste of Toru. Taka didn't want to pull away, until he remembered Toru should probably actually be studying.

Toru laughed a bit at Taka telling him to study, then decided to just study as Taka played with his left hand. Everything felt so normal between them right now, it was _almost_ as if the sex thing didn't happen. But he couldn't help but wonder if Taka would ever change his mind about trying sex again.

* * *

After practice that night, Alex was mentioning about how he should have congratulatory sex for finishing his last exam. 

"Didn't you already do that today?" Taka laughed, waiting for Toru to pack up his stuff so they could go home to bed.

"What's wrong with twice in one day?" Alex laughed, "have you never had sex twice in one day?"

"No" Taka responded, smirking, "probably because I'm not a manwhore…"

"Are you turning the nickname I gave you a long time ago on me?" Alex laughed.

"Yes" Taka answered. "Why did you even give that nickname to me?"

"I've heard stories from Takeru…" Alex laughed.

"Of course you did…" Taka groaned, feeling Toru's gaze on him. 

"Do you want me to stay with you again tonight?" Tomo asked awkwardly, causing everyone in the room to go silent.

"Uhh, no, Toru's gonna stay over" Taka answered, "thanks though"

"Oh" Tomo responded awkwardly, glaring at Toru. Even if Taka had managed to forgive him or whatever, he still felt uneasy thinking Toru could hurt Taka like that.

Toru noticed Tomo was glaring at him with a threatening look, which was weird. He had never seem Tomo look threatening before. But he was broken our of his thoughts by Alex laughing in the background.

"Did you sleep in his bed? Isn't it great?" Alex laughed, looking at Tomo.

"It was nice and comfy…" Tomo admitted, leaving out the part about Taka crying all night, holding Toru's sweater.  

"When do I get to stay in this bed?" Ryota asked, "I feel like I've heard about it from everyone else…"

"Eventually. Maybe" Taka sighed, "if I knew everyone would be fighting over my bed, I would have never let Toru start sleeping in it"

"How did that even start?" Ryota laughed.

"He kept complaining my couch is uncomfortable" Taka lied, vaguely recalling a conversation from a long time ago. "And then Alex fucking barged into my apartment one day and decided to begin telling everyone about it"

"It was funny" Alex laughed, "I told you I was coming over the next day, not my fault you slept in"

"Whatever" Taka groaned, "are you ready to leave now, Toru?"

"Yea" Toru responded, following Taka out of the room. "See you all tomorrow. After my first exam"

"After my last exam!" Ryota laughed as Toru gave him the finger.

* * *

Toru and Taka arrived at his apartment that night, going straight to bed. Taka laid down on Toru's chest, breathing in his scent - not just his clothing - for what felt like the first time in a long time. He smelt like home, warm and comforting as he felt Toru's arms snaking around his waist.

"I love you" Toru smiled, stroking Taka's back over his tshirt.

"I love you too" Taka responded, resting his chin on Toru's chest and smiling at him. He shifted himself upwards to give Toru a quick goodnight kiss. Then he pulled away, hovering over Toru, looking at him in the eyes. "I love you so much" he repeated, pressing his lips against Toru's.

Toru automatically closed his eyes, smiling as he felt Taka's tongue enter his mouth. He flicked it back, creating a mini war of tongues between them. Devouring his mouth, stroking his back, thinking this felt so normal and good. Normally, however, he would probably roll them both over, dry hump the hell out of him until neither of them could think anymore.

But he was terrified of scaring Taka, and decided to let Taka take the lead on everything. So he continued laying there, gently stroking Taka's clothed back, letting Taka suck the life out of him.

Waiting for Taka make a first move.

Even if the soft moans and heavy breathing from Taka were making him incredibly hard.

Even if he felt Taka's boner pressing against his own.

He laid there, stroking his back tenderly as they kissed. Probably deserving some kind of award for the incredible amount of self restraint being shown right now. Still just stroking Taka's back and kissing him. Waiting to see if Taka was going to initiate dry humping.

Taka began thrusting his hips against Toru's, feeling shocks running through his system as Toru began thrusting back. Thinking this felt so good, why did they even bother with sex. He could probably just lay here for the rest of his life, on top of Toru, rubbing their clothed dicks against each other. Or underneath him. Being on top was kind of weird, and a lot more effort than he had become accustomed to. So he tried to tug at the side of Toru's shirt, while attempting a rolling motion.

Except naturally, it failed, and he just ended up on his back, with Toru looking at him weirdly.

"Are you ok?" Toru asked nervously, unsure if he did something wrong. Again.

"Get on top of me you-" Taka was cut off by Toru rolling on top of him, meeting his lips in a crushing kiss. He moaned loudly, thinking this is exactly the motion he loved feeling between him and Toru. "Ahh…. Nghhhh… i love you…"

"Takaaa… fu…." Toru moaned, ecstatic that it felt like him and Taka were back on track. Back to their nightly routine of grinding against each other, moaning loudly sounds of appreciation towards each other. Although it had been a while since they last did this clothed, and the sweatpants felt abrasive, but the pain felt good. And he loved hearing Taka's heavy breathing and moans getting even more incoherent as they both inched closer to climax. So he thrust harder, feeling Taka's head on his shoulder. He let out a loud growl, coming apart as he felt Taka beginning to relax underneath him.

Taka opened his eyes, seeing Toru over top of him, smiling down as they both caught their breath. "I liked that"

"I did too" Toru smiled, getting up to change his pants. He noticed Taka standing beside him, taking off his shirt and pants.

"I wss gonna sleep naked, if that's ok…" Taka laughed awkwardly, noticing Toru was putting on a fresh pair of pjs.

"Oh. Right" Toru laughed, taking off his pjs, "I didn't know if you would be ok with that"

"I haaate sleeping in pjs" Taka responded, "and we're ok, right? Back to normal?"

"Yea, of course" Toru answered, kissing Taka as they got back into bed naked. He felt Taka cuddling up on his chest, and put his arms around his waist. "I love you Taka"

"I love you too Toru" Taka smiled, falling asleep almost instantly.

Toru laid there, partly worried about exams, partly wondering if Taka would ever want to try sex again. But he was so happy to have his actual koala on his chest rather than the stuffed one he bought for himself in Osaka. So he held him tightly, kissing his forehead before falling asleep. 


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone finally clues in Tomo about Toru and Taka.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason for this fic I've been picturing the rehearsal space as like a practice room at a university or something. Even though I know it wasn't in real life. But one of those "you book time in advance but if no one else is there you can use it" type things. 
> 
> Anyway, this feels like filler for some reason. Buuuut, I suppose it's kinda set up for the remaining plot... which there is another 15,000ish words.

Toru was getting some last minute studying in before his exam. Taka was sat beside him, playing with his left arm as Toru did practice problems with his right arm.

They were interrupted by the sound of the door attempting to open and a knock. Taka assumed it was Alex and went to go answer it. "Oh. Hi. I thought you were Alex.

"Why?" Takeru laughed, looking at Taka weirdly.

"Usually you just unlock the door" Taka answered.

"Oh. Yea" Takeru laughed, "I didn't wanna accidentally walk in on something…" 

Taka laughed awkwardly, "Toru's got an exam soon, so…" 

"I hear you talking about me" Toru called out from the living area. 

"Good" Taka responded, walking towards the couch and sitting behind Toru. "Now get back to studying" 

Toru sighed, "I'm all studied out. I have to leave in… 20 minutes anyway" 

"You have 20 more minutes to study then" Taka laughed, kicking Toru's back playfully. 

"But my brain already hurts" Toru sighed, "I don't wanna use my remaining energy on studying rather than the exam…" 

"That is actually true…" Takeru admitted. "You're better to relax for 20 minutes than to continue studying" 

"Yea. That's why I failed out of school" Taka joked, "I studied too much in the 20 minutes before exams" 

"No Taka" Takeru sighed, "you failed out of school because you  _ only _ studied in the 20 minutes before exams, and skipped class for sex regularly" 

"So you're saying I should have just not done that 20 minutes studying?" Taka laughed. 

"Yes. That's the takeaway from this conversation" Takeru laughed, shaking his head.

Toru sighed, sitting on the couch beside Taka. He always hated being reminded that Taka had sex before him, and it hurt even more knowing that Taka used to enjoy sex. He rested his head against Taka's shoulder for comfort and felt Taka's arm stroking his back. 

"You worried about your exam?" Taka asked, looking at Toru.

"Yea" Toru lied, not wanting to get into his actual problems right before an exam. 

"What do you have in math currently?" Taka asked, resting his head against Toru's. 

"65" Trou groaned. "I'm so close to failing" 

"How much is your exam  _ worth _ ?" Takeru asked, kind of confused. 

"15%, why?" Toru asked, also confused why Takeru would be asking. 

Takeru laughed, "you could just not show up and still pass" 

"What?" Toru asked, looking at Takeru confused. Partially because he's been weirdly nice the past couple of days, partly because how is that possible. 

"I mean you'll be in the 50s… but… a pass is a pass" Takeru laughed. "Don't do that because it'd be dumb as hell, but technically that'd be your mark if you got a 0 on it anyway" 

"Why didn't you ever tell me this trick?" Taka groaned, crossing his arms across his chest. 

"Because you never had a mark high enough for it to work" Takeru laughed. 

Toru also laughed at that before realising Taka was giving him a death glare. 

"I preferred it when you two hated each other" Taka sighed. 

"Oh I still hate him, don't worry" Takeru laughed. 

"He's ok occasionally…" Toru admitted. 

Taka laughed, resting his head against Toru's shoulder and resting his knees against Toru's legs. 

"This is so cute I'm gonna gag…" Takeru mused. 

"Lucky for you, you do get him for a few hours while i write my exam" Toru laughed before kissing Taka's forehead. 

"You gonna go now?" Taka asked, looking up at Toru. 

"Yea, I'll be back afterwards" Toru responded, kissing Taka before getting up and leaving. 

"Good luck" Taka responded before kissing him again. 

"Ok, I love you" Toru laughed, kissing Taka again. 

"I love you too" Taka smiled, kissing him again. 

"Ok, ok, I get it. You two are dating and in love. Go do your exam, I have things to talk about with Taka" Takeru groaned. 

"Bye Takeru" Toru laughed, leaving the apartment. 

"Did you try sex again?" Takeru asked, looking at Taka immediately after hearing the door close. 

"No" Taka answered, "we already talked about this" 

Takeru sighed, "you weren't in the right mind at the time. You're better now, right? So just try again" 

"I told him I didn't want to have sex. And that I was the one at fault. And he said he still loves me, and that we don't have to have sex" Taka pointed out. 

"Fine. I guess you've at least taken my communication advice from yesterday" Takeru sighed. "You should still try at least" 

"Why would we try having sex again, when we could just go back to doing other things that feel good?" Taka smirked. 

"Because whatever else you're doing doesn't feel as good as sex?" Takeru suggested. 

Taka groaned, "whatever happened to that whole 'he loves you he puts up with you' motivation speech yesterday?" 

"Oh. That's still true" Takeru laughed, "in terms of you shouldn't dump him. I believe I also told you to think about having sex again" 

"What the fuck" Taka groaned, "I already told you. It hurt and I don't want to think about doing it again" 

"I was being nice to you yesterday" Takeru admitted, "and I sugarcoated the conversation I had with Toru at Alex's house. I spent a 45 fucking minutes telling him about sex and answering his questions. I didn't do that for his purpose"

Taka sighed, glaring at Takeru. "I'll think about it, ok?" 

"This is peer pressure, do it" Takeru laughed before hearing the door open. 

"Only Alex knows" Taka whispered, just loud enough for Takeru to hear him. 

"Hey Taka" Ryota called from the genkan. 

"Glad to know you also have began barging in unannounced" Taka joked before Ryota even got to the main area. 

"Sorry, Tomo's also with me, if that makes it better…" Ryota responded awkwardly, walking into the main room with Tomo. 

"It's fine" Taka laughed, "everyone else does it"

"Is Toru here? I haven't seen him today" Ryota asked, sitting down next to Taka. 

"No he's doing his exam" Taka answered. 

"I thought you two hated each other" Takeru said out loud. "When did you two start getting along?" 

"When Toru shoved us both in the closet and refused to let us out" Ryota laughed. 

"What?" Tomo asked in shock, "I never heard this story" 

"We kept bickering and he got sick of us" Taka laughed. "So afterwards we decided to ditch him" 

"Probably used that hour to plan sex with his girlfriend" Ryota laughed, "then pretended to be irritated that we left him while he went to have sex with her" 

"What?" Takeru asked for confirmation, very confused about this story about Toru having sex with a girl. 

"Toru has a girlfriend in Osaka" Ryota filled in Takeru, "and he had sex with her while we were there" 

"Oh, interesting" Takeru giggled, realising Taka was the girlfriend. "I hate him, so, I don't actually pay attention to his life"

Tomo sat there awkwardly, feeling horrible that Toru actually locked Taka in a closet to cheat on him. He hoped Taka would just dump him already or something, because he was really starting to hate Toru for this situation. And it was a good thing Takeru didn't know, since otherwise Toru was going to be dead the second he walked in. 

"Taka and I get along now, you and Toru should make up" Ryota smiled, putting his arm around Taka. 

Takeru laughed as Taka tried to wiggle out of the embrace, looking incredibly uncomfortable. "I think I've spent enough time with Toru recently. Waaay too much time actually…" 

Taka laughed, finally getting out of Ryota's arm, "don't worry, I don't feel like dealing with you two murdering each other in my closet" 

Takeru laughed, but Tomo just felt awkward and horrible about the situation between Taka and Toru. Takeru would definitely murder Toru if he knew about Taka and him. He couldn't quite figure out why Taka hadn't murdered Toru and kicked him to street yet, but Tomo was almost debating it. 

They sat around having random discussions for a couple hours before Toru showed up after his exam. He got himself a beer from Taka's fridge then sat on the table in front of the couch. "One down, 3 to go…" 

"How did it go?" Taka asked, looking at Toru. 

"Probably passed" Toru responded, drinking his beer. 

"Didn't I already tell you you can't fail tge course?" Takeru groaned, looking at Toru. 

"I meant the exam" Toru sighed. "Don't you also have exams to be studying for?" 

"Ahh, I missed this, you two being nice to each other was weird" Taka laughed as Takeru and Toru both glared at him. 

"Yea. I'm gonna go" Takeru responded, "see you all later"

"That was weird…" Ryota noted. 

Tomo shrugged, "Toru is being irritable…" 

"Do you have a problem with me or something recently?" Toru asked, looking at Tomo weirdly. 

Tomo looked awkwardly at Taka, then said "no" before backing down. 

"Good. Because Taka and Ryota are finally starting to get along, and I really don't wanna deal with anymore feuds amongst us…" Toru sighed heavily, looking at Tomo. 

"I'm gonna go. I think my parents wanted me home for dinner…" Tomo announced, getting up to leave. "I'll see you three later" 

"Bye?" Taka answered awkwardly, wondering what was going on. 

"I'm also going to go" Ryota announced, following Tomo out, wondering what was going on. 

Taka and Toru stared at each other weirdly, trying to figure out what just happened. 

* * *

Ryota followed tomo out of the apartment, wondering what Tomo's problem actually was.

"Nothing" Tomo lied, fairly certain that Ryota was unaware of Toru and Taka's situation. "My parents just wanted help with dinner. I'll see you tonight" 

Ryota watched as Tomo walked away, very confused about why he seemed so angry. He decided to just show up early to the rehearsal that night and confront him when he couldn't get away. 

* * *

Toru and Taka were still in their same positions, very confused about what happened.

"Ryota told Takeru about your girlfriend, that's probably why he's mad, I don't know what the hell Tomo's mad at though…" Taka admitted, texting Takeru to clear things up. 

Toru laughed, "I assume he figured it was a cover story, otherwise he wouldn't hesitate to murder me with his bare hands in your apartment" 

"Indeed he did" Taka laughed, reading his phone. "He says he wanted to leave for sex" 

"Oh" Toru responded awkwardly, not wanting to make Taka uncomfortable. 

Taka wasn't really sure how to respond, feeling really awkward. He was curious to try sex again, but he finally felt better being around Toru, he didn't want to have to deal with the pain again. Especiay not when Toru was doing exams. He figured he'd maybe think about bringing it up after exams, and just change the subject for now. "What are we doing for dinner?" 

"I don't know" Toru answered, "should we show up to rehearsal early to ask Tomo what his issue is?" 

"Yea, sure" Taka answered, "wanna go for dinner first?" 

"Are you asking me on a date?" Toru laughed, looking at Taka. 

"Yes" Taka answered, kissing Toru as he got up. "Get changed, let's go get curry before practice" 

* * *

Toru and Taka made their way to the studio way too early. They entered early anyway, and stood against the wall waiting for others to enter.

"We have a whole… 45 minutes before anyone else shows up" Taka smirked, looking at Toru. 

"Yea?" Toru smiled, turning himself to be in front of Taka aginst the wall. "What do you suggest we do?" 

"I don't know…" Taka laughed, feeling Toru's hot breath on his face. He looked up at him in his eyes, and reached up to kiss him. Toru put his hands on Taka's waist, and continued kissing him back, oblivious to the sound of the door opening and closing quickly. 

* * *

Ryota was stood outside the studio, trying to comprehend what he just saw. He looked at his watch, wondering when the appropriate time was to enter. Also wondering what the hell Toru was playing at when he has a girlfriend in Osaka. He saw Tomo approaching, and was there early to confront him, but now he had bigger problems on his mind now.

"Why are you just standing outside?" Tomo asked, going to unlock the door. 

"No!" Ryota yelled, "don't go in. It's occupied" 

"Oh, ok. I suppose it wasn't a given it'd always be empty before us..." Tomo responded, looking at Ryota weirdly. 

Alex showed up next, also asking why everyone was standing around. 

"Apparently it's occupied?" Tomo said awkwardly, looking at Ryota. 

"Where's Toru? Usually he's here by now.." Alex sighed, looking at his phone. 

"Probably off cheating…" Tomo muttered under his breath, unaware that anyone could hear him. 

"Cheating?" Alex asked, looking at Tomo awkwardly. "What are you talking about? He's probably at Taka's running late for whatever reason" 

Ryota looked at Tomo, "what do you know?" 

"Nothing? It meant nothing" Tomo lied. 

"Ok, what's going on?" Alex sighed, not wanting to deal with any of their wild speculations. 

"Fine" Ryota breathed heavily, "I got here early, and saw Toru and Taka making out in there" 

"Oh" Tomo answered, "so they have made up? Not sure why Taka would take him back, but I was kinda worried Toru would be mad if I took Taka's side in a messy breakup" 

"A-" Alex couldn't even get a word in before Ryota began responding to Tomo, and was actually kind of curious where this was going. 

"What?" Ryota asked, looking at Tomo. "What are you talking about?"

"Toru cheating on Taka. With the girl in Osaka" Tomo clarified. "Toru's in the wrong, thus I would choose Taka's side in the resulting breakup" 

"They're not dating…" Ryota informed him. "Who told you that?" 

"I was curious about what was going on between them… so one day, I noticed Taka and Toru were both texting at the same time. So I looked over Taka's shoulder, and read their text conversation…"  Tomo admitted. "And concluded they're dating" 

"They went on a date once" Ryota informed him, "before Taka joined the band. That's probably what they were texting about. He has a girlfriend in Osaka, who he had sex with, and is apparently now cheating on with Taka" 

"Or is he cheating on Taka with the girlfriend in Osaka?" Tomo pointed out. "I know about the date. But they were talking present tense. Toru referred to Taka as his boyfriend. Before going to Osaka"

"Oh boy. You two have the story completely fucked up" Alex cut them both off, massaging his temples "Toru and Taka are both going to fucking murder me for telling you two this, but. Since Tomo's already figured out most of it apparently… they are in a relationship" 

"So he's cheating?" Tomo asked, "I overheard Taka crying as Toru said he still loves him and apologised for hurting hin. And Taka was really upset when they got back from Osaka, because Toru cheated on him" 

"There's no girlfriend in Osaka" Alex sighed. "The girlfriend in Osaka was the cover story so he wouldn't have to tell Ryota he was going to have sex with Taka" 

"Taka was really upset when we got back from Osaka though…" Ryota sighed. "Toru said it was because he missed his family" 

"Yea he lied" Alex answered. "He wasn't going to tell you the real reason, was he?" 

"What was the real reason then?" Tomo asked, "Taka was really upset when I stayed over at his apartment…" 

Alex sighed, "sex is complicated. There's a lot of weird feelings and emotions that get involved. I don't wanna get into the details, but Taka got really upset afterwards and was refusing to talk to Toru" 

"But they're gonna be ok, right?" Tomo asked nervously, but incredibly happy his Toru-is-cheating theory was wrong. 

"Probably" Alex responded, "Ryota did say he just walked in on them making out, right?" 

"It was disgusting and weird…" Ryota admitted.

"And this is why he told me and not you…" Alex groaned. "And why he continues to not tell you" 

"No, not because they're both guys. Because. Uh… seeing Toru kissing anyone is kinda weird…?" Ryota began trying to backtrack. 

"They're adorable though" Alex laughed, "whenever you two leave the room they suddenly turn into giant mushes. Taka's always clinging off of Toru like a koala, and Toru just smiles as Taka gets comfortable. Ahhh, they're my precious flowers. I hope everything works out between them" 

"What do we do to help them?" Tomo asked, "I like them together. I want them to work out…" 

You two" Alex started, "do absolutely nothing. Pretend like everything's normal. Don't let anyone know that you know. Don't tell them I told you, ever. I'm the only one who knows about them. Not even Takeru knows. So just, don't do anything. They're delicate right now, I don't want anything new to throw off their already fucked up dynamics..." 

"So when can we go in?" Ryota sighed, "Toru's gonna kill us if we're not there in the next 10 minutes…" 

"I'll go in now, you two follow in 5 or so minutes" Alex answered. 

"Got it" Tomo answered, watching Alex walk in. 

"Taka lied to me" Ryota sighed as soon as Alex walked into the studio. "He said he wasn't gay. And that Toru wasn't gay. I thought we were having an honest conversation, but apparently not"

"He didn't want to tell us for whatever reason" Tomo sighed, "he lied to me as well. But it's not really our business? I'm kinda just glad I don't have to hate Toru anymore"

Ryota groaned, glaring at Tomo. Pissed as hell that both Toru and Taka were actively lying to him, but also equally pissed he would so easily take Taka's side over Toru's. 

* * *

Alex walked into the studio, and sure enough, Toru and Taka were kissing, oblivious to Alex entering. "Oi! I take it you two made up"

Taka instinctively shoved Toru off him, creating an awkward distance. 

"What time is it?" Toru asked, going to set up his guitar. 

"12:51" Alex sighed, looking at his phone. "You two should be more careful. Ryota or Tomo could have walked in instead of me"

"Where are they? Shouldn't they be here by now?" Taka asked, watching as Toru set up his guitar. 

"No clue" Alex lied. "But are you two ok now?"

"Yea" Toru admitted. "We're doing good" 

"Did you have sex again?" Alex teased, looking for answers. 

"We're not gonna do it…" Taka admitted. 

"Oh" Alex answered, unsure what that meant for the status of their relationship. He was going to pry a bit more, but Ryota and Tomo entered and he decided to drop the subject. 

"Are you ok Tomo? You seemed off today" Taka asked, looking at Tomo. 

"Yea, I'm good" Tomo smiled, looking at Taka. "I was just tired" 

"Are you sure? You were taking out everything on Toru…" Taka responded. 

"Coming from the absolute moodiest guy I've ever met…" Alex groaned, looking at Taka. "We put up with you being moody daily, surely we can put up with Tomo being moody once?" 

"Fine" Taka sighed. 

"Ok, are we practising or what?" Ryota groaned, glaring at Taka. 

"Yep" Toru responded, looking at Ryota weirdly.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takeru and Alex gang up on Taka.  
> Alex doesn't understand the concept of a sexless relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's kinda short. It felt longer when I was actually writing it?

The next morning, Toru woke up early for his exam. Taka groaned, also getting up and going to lay down on the couch.

"I'll be back right afterwards" Toru smiled, kissing Taka before leaving.

"Good luck" Taka mumbled, still sleepy. "I love you"

"I love you too" Toru laughed, leaving for his exam.

Taka was woken up an hour later by Takeru entering his apartment.

"Are you in the dog house?" Takeru laughed, "why are you sleeping on the couch?"

"I woke up when Toru left for his exam, then fell back asleep…" Taka yawned, not bothering to sit up.

"Ahhh, did you have sex last night?" Takeru asked, looking at Taka and sittign on the coffee tabke.

"No" Taka groaned, realising he may hear that question everyday. He heard his door open again and shushed Takeru.

"Hi Taka" Alex called out, entering the apartment and sitting beside Takeru on the coffee table.

"Why do I feel like I'm about to get a lecture from you two?" Taka groaned, glaring at Takeru and Alex.

"It's been a while since we last sat here and hounded you about Toru" Takeru laughed, "the good old days…"

Taka groaned, "just say what you both want to say. Get it over with"

"What were we gonna say?" Alex asked, looking at Taka.

"You both know everything. May as well gang up on me for whatever…" Taka sighed, bracing himself for the onslaught of questions.

"Takeru knows?" Alex asked loudly.

"Apparently Toru told him" Taka groaned.

"Oh… sorry… I told Toru to ask Takeru for help…" Alex admitted. "I _also_ told him not to name names though. That kid can never do anything right"

"I already knew" Takeru laughed, "Toru told me a week earlier"

"And he never told me? That asshole…" Alex sighed.

"Toru didn't tell me either, Takeru told me" Taka groaned, "so out with it. What do you two have to say about it?"

"Are you really never going to have sex again?" Alex asked, "how do you even see this relationship ever working out if you never have sex?"

"You're _never_ going to have sex again?" Takeru groaned, looking at Taka. "I thought you were going to think about it"

Taka glared at Takeru, "we already had this conversation. Twice. And I told you the same thing. Both times. Do we have to have to cuddle in my bed again for you to finally understand?"

"Wait" Alex cut off the conversation, "there was an option to gang up on Taka whilst in his soft, warm bed?"

"No" Taka groaned, glaring at Alex.

"Fine" Alex sighed, "fight back harder Takeru"

"What do you mean fight back harder?" Taka sighed.

"Maybe we'd be less demanding if you let us cuddle in your bed" Alex laughed.

"Yea, let's go cuddle" Takeru suggested, laughing hysterically as him and Alex got up to go to Taka's bedroom.

Taka groaned loudly, following his friends into the bedroom and laid on his side, resting his head on Takeru's shoulder.

"Ooooh, you meant actual cuddling?" Alex burst out laughing, "I assumed you meant just getting comfy"

"Shut up" Taka sighed, "it’s a big bed. You can just lay down on the other side, no one’s asking you to cuddle with us"

“Oh no, I want in on this” Alex laughed, resting his head against Takeru's other shoulder.

"So Taka. Sex" Takeru started again. "When are you doing it?"

"Uuugh" Taka groaned, "I already told you this. I don't want to have sex"

"Why not?" Takeru asked  

"Because it was painful and didn't feel good" Taka groaned, "why would I want to do that again?"

"Is that the only reason?" Takeru asked.

"Yes?" Taka answered, "we're back to normal. We're good for the first time since the incident. Why would I want to change that?"

"So you're afraid things will change" Alex pointed out.

"No I'm not" Taka groaned.

"You're bad at lying" Takeru sighed, "if you're not afraid of things changing, why did you suddenly tense up and get closer to me?"

"It hurt so much" Taka sighed, "and it continued to hurt. And I didn't like being in pain"

"Why didn't you just tell him during?" Alex asked, "he said he didn't know what he did wrong and thought you were enjoying it"

"It was dumb as hell, I know. But I didn't want to ruin his first time" Taka admitted

"Yea, you just ruined your relationship instead" Alex pointed out.

"I didn't ruin it" Taka groaned, "I _just_ said we're back to normal"

"Is it Taka?" Alex sighed, "what's the long term viability of a sexless relationship?"

"You know there is more to relationships than sex?" Taka sighed, "not that I'd expect either of you to understand that…"

"I know that. He doesn't" Takeru laughed. "So if your only issue is the pain, it hurts less. It only hurt because it was your first time and you didn't communicate properly"

"What the fuck does hurt less mean?" Taka groaned, "I don't want anything that hurts"

"I mean, it may hurt a bit. But hurts less" Takeru sighed, "and feels reeeaallly good. Do you honestly think I'd ever have casual sex with random guys if it didn't feel good?"

"I guess not…" Taka conceded, "but what if it does hurt again?"

"Tell Toru during not after" Takeru responded, "and I taught him stuff. And I never do _anything_ for his benefit, only yours"

"But what if even after that, I still don't like it?" Taka whimpered.

"Then you can make your own decision and we'll stop bothering you" Takeru offered. "But if it _is_ just the pain that's the issue, it's gonna get better. I promise"

"Fine" Taka groaned, glaring at his friends, "I'll talk to him about trying sex again after his last exam"

"Stop glaring at us like that" Takeru sighed, "we're trying to help you"

"You should really thank us for everything we do to help your relationship. I swear I've put more time into your relationship than my own…" Alex groaned.

"Maybe that's why yours always fail" Takeru quipped, causing Taka to break out in laughter.

"Probably" Alex laughed along, "it's just a lot easier to tell other people what to do than to actually do it"

"Really? If we were both lying around telling you to go fuck your girlfriend, you'd resist?" Takeru laughed.

"Oh. No" Alex laughed, "as comfortable as this is, I wouldn't hesitate to leave it for sex. This doesn't ever lead to anything sexual, right?"

"What the fuck" Taka laughed, "are you not comfortable enough with yourself to cuddle with two dudes in bed?"

"We've been doing this since we were kids. There's literally nothing sexual about this" Takeru laughed, "it's just a nice, chill way to talk through problems"

"Then why have we never hounded on taka before whilst doing this?" Alex sighed, "his bed's so comfy I feel like I've been missing out"

"Because other than the other day, I can barely remember the last time Taka and I did this" Takeru admitted.

"It was probably when I was being stalked by Toru" Taka laughed.

"Uhhh… what?" Toru laughed awkwardly, opening the door of Taka's bedroom. "Hey, Tomo! See this!"

"What the fuck?" Tomo laughed, standing in the doorway.

"This is all Alex's idea" Taka groaned. 

"No it was Taka and Takeru's" Alex laughed, "I just went along with it"

"You begged us to cuddle in Taka's bed" Takeru pointed out.

"You do often talk about his bed…" Tomo pointed out.

"Yea, this looks like Alex's doing" Toru agreed.

"Whatever, it's comfy. Here, cuddle up next to me Tomo" Alex offered.

"I don't think we're all gonna fit" Taka laughed awkwardly.

"Yea we will" Alex laughed, "is Ryota here? Because if not Toru can just cuddle with Taka"

"No, he has plans apparently" Toru sighed, laying down behind Taka and cuddling him. Figuring this is probably the only time it'd be not weird to cuddle in front of Tomo.

"Watch them" Alex whispered discreetly to Tomo.

"So what are we actually doing?" Toru laughed, wrapping his arm around Taka's waist and holding his hand discreetly. 

"Same thing we always do. Just in bed instead on on the couch" Alex answered. "Much more comfortable here"

"What do you always do?" Toru asked.

"Talk, they make fun of me. I make fun of them" Alex answered.

"How was your exam?" Taka asked, turning his head around to face Toru.

"Alright I guess" Toru sighed, "I'm halfway done though"

"When's your last one?" Alex asked.

"I have two tomorrow" Toru responded, cuddling Taka tightly, not wanting to let go. "And I should probably study for that"

"Does this mean we have to get out of bed?" Alex groaned, "this is so comfy"

"Both my arms are numb and this is crowded" Takeru laughed.

"Yea, I feel like I'm about to fall off" Tomo admitted.

"Fiiine" Alex whined, "everyone out of Taka's bed"

"So you can hog it for yourself?" Toru joked, getting of the bed.

"Can I?" Alex asked.

"No" Taka groaned, ushering everyone out of the bedroom.

"I'm gonna go now, I feel like I need to purify my soul after cuddling with Alex for so long" Takeru shuddered.

"Is that code for ditching us for sex?" Alex laughed.

"Yes" Takeru answered, "see you all later"

"Bye" Taka and Tomo both called out as Toru got out some study material.

"So what are we doing to celebrate once Toru finishes his exams?" Tomo asked.

"We should get ramen as a band" Taka answered, "also does anyone know why Ryota suddenly hates me again?"

"He hasn't said anything to me" Alex answered.

"Nothing to me either" Toru sighed, realising the end of the Ryota and Taka feud was relatively short lived.

"I kinda liked getting on with him" Taka admitted, "he's really funny. Now he's suddenly shooting daggets at me all the time"

"I can talk to him if you want" Tomo offered, knowing the reason.

"I can talk to him myself" Taka laughed awkwardly, "thanks though. I was mostly just curious if anyone else noticed or if I was just imagining it"

"I hadn't actually noticed" Alex admitted.

"I did notice he was irritable yesterday, but, didn't really notice him taking it out on a singular person. He seemed mad at everyone" Toru responded. "He may have just been in a bad mood for whatever reason"

"Oooh, ok. Maybe he's just tired" Taka breathed a sigh of relief, "I thought he hated me again"

"I'm gonna go see him now, I'll check to see if anything's bothering him?" Tomo offered.

"Yea, I'm also gonna go have sex" Alex laughed, looking at his phone.

"What the fuck. Haven't we talked to you about announcing that?" Toru groaned, glaring at Alex.

"Yep" Alex laughed, leaving Toru and Taka alone.

"Are you ready for your exams?" Taka asked, laying down on the couch as he yawned.

"I think so. Just a few last minute things" Toru answered, smiling at Taka behind him. "You can nap if you're tired"

"I'm not tired" taka yawned, "just study. Wake me up if I fall asl....."

Toru laughed, noticing Taka had just fallen asleep mid sentence.

* * *

"You're late…" Taka mused as Ryota walked in at 1:08.

"Not sure since when you've decided you're the rule enforcer…" Ryota groaned, setting up his bass and looking at Taka.

"You're on strike one…" Toru said, getting out his notebook and writing it.

"Strikes are dumb" Ryota sighed, "you never punished Alex, and Taka only got one strike for being 20 minutes late…"

"Alex had a valid excuse, and Taka didn't know about the strike rule" Toru groaned. "What's your problem recently?"

"Nothing" Ryota sighed, "just exams and stuff"

"Let's just practice, ok?" Taka smiled, glad that he wasn't the problem.

Toru looked at Ryota suspiciously, remembering that Ryota's exams were done and he was passing all his courses with flying colours. 


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex goes to the school roof for sex, runs into two people he didn't expect.  
> Ryota is pissed off by Alex.  
> Maybe something happens in Taka's bedroom, who knows.

"I know I said we could have sex at my house. I'm sorry. My parents are usually at work at this time, but my mom's taking a day off" Alex sighed, trying to convince a girl that having sex on the roof of the school was a normal thing. "I've done it up here many, many times. It's nice, private, and it's not like anyone's gonna see us-"

"Michelle!" The girl called out, leaving Alex to realise he probably wasn't having sex today. He figured he'd look over to whoever he just got ditched for.

And oh boy, he did not regret this one bit.

Ryota detached himself from the girl, then went scampering off to who knows where. Alex tried to follow him, only to get distracted by a probable ufo in the the sky. He stared at it, trying to follow it, completely forgetting his task of talking to Ryota.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Toru asked, watching Alex staring at the sky and running.

"Holy shit you scared me" Alex clutched his chest, sitting beside Toru on the ground. "What are you doing up here?"

"I have a couple hours between exams and didn't know what else to do" Toru sighed, "what are you doing here? Aren't you done exams?"

"I am" Alex responded, "I came here to have sex, although I just got cockblocked by... nevermind. How are things going?"

"Did you get cockblocked by an alien?" Toru laughed.

"Yea, sure" Alex sighed.

"You're so weird" Toru laughed, shaking his head.

"Yep" Alex groaned, realising the Ryota story would have been easier.

"Can I ask for advice?" Toru asked, turning to face Alex.

"Why's that even a question?" Alex laughed, "you know I loooove giving you advice and teasing you about Taka. This is about Taka, right?"

"Yes" Toru sighed, pulling his knees to his chest. "I don't know what to do about sex"

While Alex loved teasing Toru about Taka, he did get kind of irritated when they both talked to him about the same problem rather than each other. "Talk to him"

"I can't though" Toru groaned, "when we were making up, after that whole mess. He said he thought about dumping me so I could find someone who wanted to have sex with me. Now I'm worried if I even mention wanting to try again, he's going to worry I will dump him"

Alex sighed, knowing that Taka's probably going to bring up sex soon, but not wanting to tell Toru that. "Would you break up with him if he never wanted to have sex with you?"

"What the fuck is _wrong_ with you?" Toru yelled in disbelief, "Obviously not. I love him, even if he doesn't want to have sex. I was just thinking, maybe he'd enjoy it more when he got used to it. And I don't know if I should bring it up or not"

"Well, now that we've established you'll still stay with him even if he never brings up wanting to have sex, ever. Wait for him to bring it up" Alex smirked. "He liked sex before you came along, and Takeru's always telling him how good it is, I can only assume he'll change his mind eventually"

"I suppose you're right" Toru sighed, "I'll wait for him to bring it up"

"Good talk" Alex laughed, patting Toru's shoulder. "Now, if you don't mind, I've got an alien to go chase down…"

* * *

Toru arrived back at Taka's apartment after his exam, laying down on the couch beside him and bringing him to lay on his chest. "I'm done. Finally"

Taka laughed, "congratulations"

"What are we doing to celebrate?" Toru asked, looking at Taka.

"I wanna try sex again" Taka blurted out.

"Do you want to have sex or feel like I'm expecting it?" Toru asked suspiciously, wondering if Alex paid Taka a visit after their rooftop conversation.

"I want to have sex?" Taka answered, "why are you looking at me like I have an extra head?"

"It seems sudden" Toru admitted. "You were just saying you were afraid of me and were thinking of leaving me a few days ago so I could find someone who would want to have sex…"

"Yea, well. I've been reliably informed by my irritating as hell best friend that sex gets better with experience, and that I'm a dumbass who should have told you how painful it was at the time…" Taka sighed. "So maybe he has a point and it'll be better if we try again?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Toru asked, stroking Taka's hair

"I didn't want to ruin your first time…" Taka admitted, "and in hindsight I probably ended up making it worse…"

Toru sighed, kissing taka's forehead. "Didn't you end up ruining your first time?"

"No?" Taka looked at Toru weirdly, "I had had sex before…"

"I know that" Toru responded, "but it was your first time having sex with a guy, right? Your first time being the one on the receiving end"

"I suppose so" Taka admitted, "I was just really worried about your first time…"

"Ok, so when we do it again, you promise to communicate with me during?" Toru asked, stroking Taka's back.

"Yes" Taka answered, kissing Toru. "Do you want to do it tomorrow? Make a day of it?"

"A whole day of sex?" Toru smirked, looking at Taka.

Taka giggled, "I meant we could spend a nice day together, lock everyone out of my apartment, and try having sex again…"

"Ok" Toru smiled, kissing Taka. "Want me to cancel practice tomorrow then? Being the leader has its perks…"

"Ok" Taka laughed, kissing Toru. "I love you"

"I love you too" Toru smiled, leaning down to kiss Taka.

* * *

Taka and Ryota were bitching each other out all practice. Toru was grateful when it finally ended, and he could go back to Taka's apartment for a whole day. And for sex again.

"So what are we doing to celebrate everyone done exams?" Alex asked as they were all packing up.

"Wasn't Taka talking about ramen?" Tomo asked, looking over at Taka. "We should get some before practice tomorrow"

"Oh yea. Practice is cancelled tomorrow" Toru informed everyone.

"Why?" Rytoa groaned.

"Because we're all fucking exhausted from exams" Toru groaned, "we're gonna take a day to rest, then we'll go back to practising the next day"

"That's a lame reason…" Ryota sighed, glaring at Toru.

Alex tried not to laugh, thinking of his conversation with Taka about trying sex again.

"What?" Toru groaned, glaring at Alex.

"Nothing" Alex laughed, "have a nice day tomorrow…"

Taka sighed, giving Alex a death glare before leaving with Toru.

* * *

Alex decided to use this opportunity to follow Ryota back to the dormroom, and have a good talk with him.

"So Ryota, you have anything to talk to me about?" Alex smirked, lying on Toru's bed.

"Yea, why's Toru cancelling practice?" Ryota asked, glaring at Alex.

"You heard him, because we're all tired. And you have been especially bitchy lately. Is there trouble in paradise?" Alex asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Ryota groaned. "And that's not the real reason. You laughed afterwards and both Toru and Taka glared at you for it. So what's the real reason?"

"I only told you and Tomo about Toru and Taka so you two could stop your theories of Toru being a cheat. I'm not giving you regular updates" Alex groaned, "especially not when I didn't even know that you and Michelle were so close"

"So you're confirming that he's cancelling practice for Taka?" Ryota groaned.

"Probably" Alex admitted, "but this is a good thing. No one enjoyed it when they were at each other's throats. So if they can work things out, we can go back to being, what did you call us? A family?"

"Why are you the one telling me these things, not Toru?" Ryota groaned. "I'm his best friend, not you"

"You're telling me if I texted Toru right now, and asked him about Michelle, he would know exactly who I'm talking about?" Alex asked. "Speaking of Michelle, maybe you should call her up. Let her know you're gonna be free all day tomorrow. And your dorm room will be empty"

"I was going to tell them" Ryota groaned, "then I discovered they lie to me and decided against it"

Alex sighed. "At least they had a reason to lie to you, what's yours?"

"What's theirs?" Ryota asked, staring at Alex. "Because when Taka and I were talking in the closet, I specifically asked him, 'Are you gay?' And he said no. Why would he lie to me? I thought we were having an honest conversation"

"Toru's not telling you because you'll think it's 'weird and disgusting'" Alex sighed, "and Taka didn't tell you, because he didn't want you to pick up on his relationship with Toru"

"I didn't mean weird and disgusting that they're both guys" Ryota groaned, "I meant seeing people kiss in public is weird"

"You say that as if I didn't see you kissing Michelle on a rooftop today" Alex pointed out. "Can't you just be happy for Toru? He's happy. And Taka even said he liked spending time with you, and you're funny. So be happy for them"

"I'll be happy for them when they come clean to me" Ryota sighed.

"I did try to convince them to tell you" Alex admitted, "but they didn't want you to hate Taka even more"

"Then you should have forced them to tell me" Ryota groaned.

"Oh, so I should force you to tell them about Michelle?" Alex smirked.

"Can you shut up about that for 5 minutes?" Ryota groaned. 

"If it makes you feel better, Toru told me I'd be the first person he tells when he had sex. And apparently he told you first" Alex sighed, "I even asked him, a week before he left, when he was going to have sex with Taka. And he just ignored me"

"Not really" Ryota responded, "can't we just barge in tomorrow and confront them?"

"Uh, no" Alex groaned, realising he was going to have to distract Ryota all day. "Honestly, even if you caught them in bed, naked, kissing-"

"I really don't need the visuals" Ryota groaned.

"They'd definitely just go yelling they're not gay" Alex finished. "So. No making surprise trips to Taka's ok?"

Ryota groaned, "are you leaving now?"

"No" Alex answered, "we're gonna have a fun day tomorrow. I'll just sleep here,  maybe Tomo can join us. Ooooh maybe you should invite Michelle over. Introduce us all to her. I don't know her very well"

"Go to sleep already" Ryota groaned, suddenly wondering if Alex was this irritating to Toru and Taka.

* * *

 Taka woke up on top of Toru, as usual. He realised Toru didn't have to wake up today, and decided to cuddle back up to him. He played with Toru's arm, accidentally waking Toru up.

"Morning…" Toru mumbled, cuddling Taka closer to him.

"I didn't mean to wake you" Taka smiled, kissing Toru.

Toru stroked Taka's back, smiling as they cuddled together in bed. He debated just staying there all day, in this exact position before eventually moving on to sex. Then he realised, like almost every morning, his right arm was numb as hell. He tried to subtly move Taka off of it, give it some time to wake up before the main event started, but Taka groaned and whined about being comfortable.

"My arm is numb" Toru laughed, looking at Taka. "How are we supposed to have sex comfortably if my arm's asleep?"

"Fine" Taka laughed, rolling off his arm and laying on his side, staring at Toru. He was suddenly terrified of having sex again. Scared it would hurt just as much as the last time, still wouldn't feel good. Everyone kept assuring him it would be better this time, but he was terrified it wouldn't be. And that he would never like having sex with Toru.

"Are you nervous?" Toru asked, noticing how Taka was tensing up excessively whilst staring at him.

"No" Taka quickly lied.

"Stop lying Taka" Toru chuckled softly, reaching out to stroke Taka's cheek, only for Taka to flinch away. Toru sighed, looking at how nervous Taka was. "We don't have to have sex again if you don't want to"

"I want to" Taka assured Toru, cuddling back against him, "I'm just scared it's going to hurt again"

Toru brought Taka to be resting on his chest again. He stroked Taka's bare back with his now awake right arm, his left arm wrapped around Taka's hips, kissing his forehead as he felt Taka begin to relax again. "If at any point you're not enjoying it, tell me right away. Don't wait until afterwards"

Taka nodded, reaching up to kiss Toru. He wasn't sure how long they were spending kissing, not that time even mattered, they had an entire day to spend together. He wasn't even sure what time it had been when waking up. Toru was still stroking his back, they were both still naked since they never actually wore pjs. Taka felt Toru slowly begin to roll him over, and suddenly felt incredibly nervous. Usually he loved the feeling of pressure and security when Toru laid on top of him while they were doing things, but right now the sudden realisation they were actually going to have sex again was overwhelming.

"Are you ok?" Toru asked, looking at Taka. He felt a pit in his stomach that Taka was already beginning to tense up again. They hadn't even moved on to anything remotely sexual, other than being naked on top of each other, and Taka was already tensing up.

Taka nodded, then noticed Toru was giving him an 'I don't believe you' look. "I'm gooooood" Taka whined. "I like kissing, I'll tell you if I stop enjoying it"

Toru couldn't help but laugh a bit, Taka's whining was adorable. And now Taka was bobbing his head up, trying to initiate kissing again. So Toru captured Taka's lips in another kiss, soft and gentle. All the kissing today had been soft, trying to make Taka feel safe and comforted before trying sex again. Then he felt Taka's tongue, reaching into his mouth for the first time this morning. Was it even morning? Toru also had no idea, he cancelled practice for a reason. Not necessarily to have sex all day long, but to not have to worry about time. As long as the sun didn't go down and come back up, there would still be time left.

Taka's breathing was getting heavier, he felt Toru's tongue meet his, wrestling between their mouths. He could hear Toru making involuntary grunts as they both tried to breathe while kissing. Taka felt Toru begin to shift above him, his eyes were closed, still lost in the kiss. Then he felt a hand going down his bare chest, moaning softly as it passed his nipple, completely unaware that it was sensitive. But either Toru knew, or heard the moans, and decided to pinch it and play with it. Taka wasn't sure how long he had been missing out on this sensation for, and he began kissing Toru back even harder before trying to do the same.

"Fuck, that's ticklish" Toru began laughing, as Taka continued continuing to play with it with a devious smile on his face. Toru couldn't stop laughing, letting go of Taka's nipple in the process.

"Mmmmghhh, I was enjoying that" Taka laughed, moving his hands from Toru's nipple to his back.

"Were you?" Toru softly chuckled, shifting himself downwards to use his tongue on one of Taka's nipples, the other in his left hand. He heard Taka's groans of appreciation, continuing to suck and lick the nub. He eventually moved on to sucking Taka's other nipple, and using his right hand to travel further down Taka's body. He reached Taka's hardened cock, and wasn't sure if the tensing and heavy breathing was the usual "I'm turned on" or the "I'm scared" type, so he took his mouth off Taka's nipple to look up for confirmation. "Are you still ok?"

"Are you going to jerk me off or just leave your hand there?" Taka laughed, before he felt Toru begin following his instructions. He felt himself getting lost in the sensation of Toru getting him off, giving him soft, sweet kisses on his neck and chest. He could do this forever, enjoying how Toru always seemed to know exactly the rhythm he needed to get off. Then he remembered not only did they have an actual task to be getting to, and he had barely done anything to help Toru get ready for said task. Although judging by the feel of the hardon against his thigh, Toru was probably ready. "Ok, ok, I don't wanna cum before we actually have sex"

Toru chuckled softly, smiling at his boyfriend. He gave Taka a quick kiss before reaching into the side table for lube and a condom. He placed the items next to them, ready for when they would need to be used. He leaned back over Taka, kissing him gently, tongues flicking gently against each other until he felt Taka relax again. He stroked Taka's cheek, before pulling away and grabbing the lube. He propped himself on one elbow, laying beside Taka as he spread Taka's legs, and spread some lube around the entrance, "are you ready?"

Taka was terrified, but managed to respond with a yes anyway. He felt Toru's finger slowly enter him, and the white hot pain returned. He stared at the ceiling, trying not to cry.

"Does it hurt?" Toru asked with a worried tone, not taking his finger out yet. He saw Taka nodding weakly, and kissed his forehead. "Do you want to stop?"

Taka looked at Toru, not sure about the answer. It hurt, yes, but he didn't want to whimp out too soon. "Not yet?"

Toru wasn't sure what that meant, but figured he may as well… leave his finger up Taka's ass for a few seconds and wait for further instruction. He felt kind of awkward, laying beside Taka, finger up his ass. Not even doing anything, just there. So he figured he'd try kissing Taka, maybe help relax him. So he leaned over, and gave him more soft kisses for a while.

"Do you feel weird?" Taka asked, looking at Toru.

"Why would I feel weird?" Toru laughed.

"You're kinda just laying on my bed with your finger up my ass not doing anything?" Taka chuckled a bit.

"I was waiting for you to tell me if you wanted to continue" Toru admitted.

"Oh" Taka laughed, "I assumed you… I have no clue. Continue"

Toru chuckled, kissing Taka's forehead and inserting another finger. "Are you still ok?"

"It really hurts" Taka admitted, squeezing his eyes shut. "Don't stop. Just. Um"

Toru kissed Taka's forehead, stroking his hair. "Let me know if you change your mind"

"Are you going to do anything or just hold it there?" Taka asked, looking at Toru.

"I'm scared of hurting you" Toru admitted.

"It's painful, but also kinda weird to just sit here doing nothing" Taka laughed awkwardly, "are you gonna kiss me or something or are we just gonna lay here staring at each other until sex?"

Toru laughed, reaching down to kiss Taka gently before beginning to massage the insides of Taka, trying his best to follow Takeru's advice. "Are you still ok?"

"Yes" Taka groaned, still slightly in pain, "I told you, I'd let you kn- agggh"

"Fuck fuck sorry are you ok?" Toru began immediately pulling out his fingers, freaking out he may have accidentally hurt Taka.

"No… do it again…" Taka croaked out, looking up at Toru.

"I thought I hurt you?" Toru looked at Taka, slightly confused. Then realised what he just hit, and returned his finger. Trying to recreate the motion he had just been doing.

"Aaagh" Taka groaned, feeling a sudden wave of pleasure again, burying his forehead in Toru's shoulder. He felt his toes automatically curling as Toru continued doing… whatever the hell he was doing. Taka continued moaning and whimpering, screaming Toru's name, unable to comprehend the pleasure shooting through his body.

Why the fuck didn't he feel this the first time.

His breathing got heavier, suddenly worried he actually would cum before Toru even began using his dick to do this. Then the feeling stopped, noticing Toru pulled his finger out. He was almost afraid of looking up and seeing Toru's probably smug face. But he took a peek anyway, and saw Toru smiling sweetly at him. He wasn't sure what he had done to deserve such a nice, caring, and understanding boyfriend. Willing to put up with him when he was being moody and stubborn, willing to work out whatever issues he was having, and most of all, not saying "I told you so" when Taka was inevitably wrong. He felt Toru kiss his forehead before reaching for the condom and placing it on his cock and oh god.

This was it.

Sex take two.

Taka tried not to freak out, thinking this would be the same as the fingers. Just much, much larger. It would hurt like a fucking bitch, but then those jolts of pleasure would be worth it, right? He watched as Toru got prepared, placing himself between Taka's already spread out legs, and moving him to a more convenient position.

"Breathe" Toru ordered him, noticing Taka looked like he was starting to freak out again.

"Obviously i'm breathing, I'm alive aren't I?" Taka joked, looking up at Toru.

"Breathe deeply" Toru ordered him again.

Taka took an excessively deep breath, almost as if mocking Toru for that weird instruction. Then he felt Toru's dick begin to slowly enter him, and the pain was intense. He suddenly began breathing faster and faster, unsure if he'd be able to cope with the pain again.

"Breathe, Taka" Toru said gently again, stroking Taka's hair. "You're hyperventilating"

Taka slowed down his breathing, trying to not think about the pain. Except it was overwhelming, if it weren't for the fact that the fingering earlier felt good as hell, he probably would have told Toru to stop by now. But he wanted that feeling again. The shooting pleasure. So he put up with the shooting pain. Toru was still in the same place, hadn't moved at all.

"Are you still ok?" Toru asked, looking down at Taka.

"It hurts" Taka admitted, giving a weak smile. "But continue?"

"Ok, breathe again" Toru ordered him again.

Taka did as he was told, the pain getting worse. They continued like this, Toru going in slowly, telling Taka to breathe, and repeating. Until Toru was almost fully inside of Taka. The pain was intense. Taka felt like his body was being split in two, for a second time.

Toru was giving him soft kisses on his forehead, cheeks, nose, before finally landing on his mouth. He gently opened Taka's mouth, amazed at his self control. Lord knows all he wanted was to begin thrusting, and feel the friction of being inside Taka again. But he also knew if he began before Taka was actually ready, they would end up in the exact same situation they were in last week. Taka in pain, sobbing, afraid of Toru. So he just laid there, inside of Taka, kissing him gently for who knows how long.

"You can start now…" Taka offered, looking up at Toru.

"Are you sure?" Toru asked, looking into Taka's eyes, making sure he wasn't just saying it.

"Yea" Taka answered, taking deep breaths to prepare himself again.

"Ok", Toru responded, kissing Taka's forehead again, "you'll tell me if it hurts too much and you want me to stop?"

"Yes" Taka answered, beginning to try and thrust, "just hit me there again"

Toru laughed, kissing Taka before beginning to thrust slowly. He deserved some kind of award for the most self control, the tightness of Taka's ass was creating the most amazing friction against his dick, he could barely believe this was all real. That Taka was letting him do this, again. With each thrust he was getting deeper and deeper inside of Taka, speeding up slowly. He looked back down at Taka, resting their foreheads together.

Taka was breathing heavily, beginning to enjoy the motion. He wasn't sure why it felt so much better this time. It was painful, but also kind of nice. He actually felt good, letting out small, involuntary moans because this all felt so good, albeit painful. Toru didn't even need to be giving him a handjob for it to feel good. He angled his head to bring in Toru for another sloppy kiss, only to feel the sudden jolt of pleasure again. The pain no logner the most prominent feeling, he let out an excessively loud, appreciative groan, burying his forehead into Toru's shoulder again. He began scraping his fingernails down Toru's back, letting out continuous moans and whimpers, a strange mixture of "fuck" and "Toru" coming out of his mouth involuntarily. He felt Toru begin jerking him off, and was barely able to control himself. He felt like he could burst at any second, slightly surprised he hadn't yet.

Toru's thrusts were relentless, every noise of appreciation Taka let out turned him on even more. So he would go faster, earning more moans from Taka, and the cycle continued until he couldn't take it anymore. He heard Taka's noises start to get more intense, needier, breathier adn he knew Taka was just about there, so he began thrusting even harder, unable to control himself as he felt them both go over the edge at the exact same time. He was breathing heavily, and looked down at Taka.

Taka looked to be still quivering from the orgasm. He was breathing deeply, desperately trying to fill his lungs with oxygen. He couldn't even comprehend what had just happened. His mind was literally in pure bliss mode, only thinking of how good that felt, and how much he loved Toru. He had never felt this relaxed, all he wanted to do for the rest of his life was to cuddle with Toru in bed, sharing sweet kisses. He wasn't even mad that he hadn't felt this before, because holy fuck that was worth the wait. He felt Toru pull out of him, shuddering at the sensation. He still hadn't actually opened his eyes. Or moved. The feeling was overwhelming, like he was coming down from such an incredible high that it took a while to reach ground level again. Maybe he really would spend the rest of his life in this exact feeling, suddenly trying to think if it was possible to actually die from such an intense orgasm.

Die from the amazing sex he just had wifh toru.

Well fuck, everyone has to die. May as well go out riding the most intense orgasm he had ever felt, ever.

"Fuck" was all Taka could manage to say when he finally regained some semblance of composure. He opened his eyes to see Toru propped on his elbow, smiling at him.

"Was it good?" Toru asked, chuckling as he saw how blissed out Taka was. He didn't even know if he should cuddle up to him, or if he was still feeling the orgasm? Is that even possible?

"Fuuuck" was apparently Taka's only word he could currently manage to pronounce as he closed his eyes again, still feeling amazing. He felt something on his stomach, and looked down. Toru was apparently now cleaning the massive amount of cum off of him. He somehow managed to croak out a very weak "thank you" before closing his eyes again. He felt Toru laying down next to him, resting his head on Taka's shoulder and wrapped his arm around his waist. "Ahhhh, that was good" Taka moaned, beginning to come down from the incredible high. "Thank you"

"You're welcome" Toru laughed, kissing Taka's forehead.

"I can't move" Taka laughed, looking at Toru, "can we just lay in bed all day? Because I'm so fucking in love with you and hoooly shit, that was amazing"

"Ok" Toru responded, cuddling against Taka and looking at the time on the alarm clock. Apparently it was only 10am. Now he was really wondering what time they woke up and how long they had just spent making love. Also wondering how many more times they could manage to have sex today, but for now, he was absolutely spent. He noticed Taka was already back asleep. Toru didn't think he felt overly tired. But that was absolutely amazing, and sleep took him quickly before he felt too smug about being amazing in bed apparently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lurked a forum on gay sex for inspiration of this. And can I say the number of dudes who started their stories with "I'm not gay, but here's a really graphic description of the times I've had gay sex" was much higher than expected. 
> 
> Also I know it gets a lot of hate but GODY is possibly my biggest guilty pleasure. I make no apologies for death from sex references.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taka and Toru had a lot of sex  
> Ryota is being difficult  
> Alex wants Toru and Taka to come clean  
> Taka and Toru continue having a lot of sex  
> There's a breakup party  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't gonna post again until I actually have the fic finished, but I have like... 2 more random scenes to write and a few random (add more)'s in my doc.  
> And Tomo had another baby so in honour of Tomo's baby, maybe Taka and Toru need to have another talk about telling the other members...  
> Also now I remember why I didn't wanna write a bunch of sex scenes in this fic. I feel like I've already written them all before lmao. (There's still more sex scenes though)

Taka woke up the next morning to the sound of Toru's phone going off. He didn't feel like getting up, so he continued cuddling against Toru's chest as Toru grabbed his phone and read it without getting out of bed.

"Alex wants to know if he's allowed to come visit us today" Toru sighed, reading his phone.

Taka groaned, "tell him he can come over in a few hours. Let's have morning sex first"

Toru laughed, "can I leave off the last part?"

"Yes" Taka laughed, kissing and nibbling on Toru's neck as he typed a reply to Alex.

"Mmmghhh… You make it difficult to concentrate on texting…" Toru moaned, putting his phone down after pressing send.

"I really enjoyed yesterday" Taka smiled, reaching up to kiss Toru's mouth.

"I wish we could do that everyday" Toru admitted, rolling on top of Taka, kissing him deeply while grabbing the lube and condoms from the side table. "I think we might need to go buy more"

Taka laughed, looking at the almost empty bottle Toru was squirting liquid from. He spread his legs in anticipation, feeling Toru spread it on his entrance, slowly inserting a finger, massaging his insides. Then another, and Taka was surprised how little this was hurting.

Probably because he lost track of how many times they had had sex the day before.

He felt his mind go numb, the absolute pleasure coursing through his system as Toru massaged his prostate for a few seconds before continuing to spread him out.

"You ready?" Toru asked, pulling out his fingers after he saw Taka nodding. He positioned himself between Taka's legs, slowly entering him. He noticed Taka wincing a bit, "you good?"

"Yea, your dick is just big" Taka laughed, feeling his insides stretching. "But it feels good"

Toru smiled, kissing Taka as he began thrusting. Listening to Taka's appreciative moaning and groaning, so happy they decided to try again. So happy Taka was enjoying this as much as he enjoyed it, possibly more. He stroked Taka's hair, kissing him as they rocked together gently, engulfed in the feeling of being inside Taka.

They were both exhausted from going at it like rabbits the entire day before. Toru felt his hip muscles were worn out from overexertion, but Taka's moans and groans were egging him on, begging him to go deeper. Toru was grunting loudly, trying to continue kissing Taka, but the feeling was too much. They were simply resting their foreheads together. The thrusting was getting more intense, he was exhausted, unsure if either of them even had anymore semen left in them when they would finish.

Is that even possible…?

Toru's thoughts went back to the main task. Taka was letting out loud, guttural moans. Toru could probably get off on his wonderful, wanton noises on their own. The friction of being inside Taka's tight ass was just an amazing bonus. He felt Taka jolt, knowing exactly where he had just hit.

Taka dug his fingers into Toru's back, forehead buried into his shoulder, unable to stop moaning loudly as Toru was repeatedly hitting him at the right angle. Mind completely numb, unable to think as he felt pleasure run through his entire body in waves. Toru's grunts sounded so good as they held each other closely. As if the waves from his prostate being hit weren't enough, he felt Toru roughly grab his dick and begin to pump it. Taka let out more loud moans, shocking himself he could still make any noises after all the moaning and screaming they had both done the day before. Before he could even think about whether or not all this loud sex might interfere with his his singing, he felt release.

Toru was milking himself dry with a few smaller thrusts after Taka had finished. He collapsed on Taka, still inside of him as they both smiled at each other. Both exhausted, sharing gentle kisses as they came back to reality.

"I love you toru" Taka smiled, looking up at Toru.

"I love you too" Toru smiled, kissing Taka's forehead as he removed himself, discarded the condom and handed Taka a box of kleenex. He pulled Taka to be lying on top of him, stroking his back as they exchanged more soft kisses.

Before being interrupted.

Not by the usual knocking on the door, by Toru's stomach rumbling. Taka laughed awkwardly, "I suppose I should make you breakfast?"

"I can make both of us rice for beeakfast" Toru offered, watching Taka get up and putting on an outfit consisting entirely of his clothes. "Are you going to leave any clothing for me to wear?"

"Nope" Taka smirked, "that was my plan"

Toru shook his head, laughing at how ridiculous Taka looked in the oversized tshirt, sweatpants and sweater. He searched through Taka's drawers, finding his other random articles of clothing.

"No, that one's actually mine, I think" Taka laughed, watching Toru pull on a pair of sweatpants.

"Well they fit me, so, I think you're just trying to hoard my clothes for yourself" Toru laughed, grabbing one of his shirts. "You know the others are coming over, right? You sure you want to wear that?"

"Fine" Taka sighed, removing his pants and tshirt before finding some clothes that actually belonged to him. "Was this a ploy to get my clothes off again?"

"it has a nice side effect" Toru admitted, ogling Taka's almost naked body.

"Perv" Taka joked, watching as Toru was watching him change.

"Yep" Toru agreed, not bothering to remind Taka that the sweater doesn't actually belong to him. He was pretty sure even Tomo and Ryota accepted that Taka has claimed that sweater for his own.

Taka shook his head, exiting the bedroom for the kitchen and putting rice in the rice maker, as well as heating the kettle for tea and coffee.

After breakfast, they laid down on the couch in their usual position. Toru on his back with Taka on his chest. Gently kissing each other whilst having long, rambling conversations about nothing in particular.

"Are you in pain today?" Toru asked, stroking Taka's back underneath his clothing.

"Yea" Taka admitted, "the sex doesn't hurt as much. But my ass is killing me today"

Toru laughed, kissing Taka gently, "is it worth the pain?"

"Yes" Taka answered, snuggling closely to Toru.

"I'm glad" Toru smiled, "I love you taka"

"I love you too" Taka responded, kissing Toru gently. Tasting him as they continued flicking their tongues together, devouring each other's mouths before getting interrupted by a knocking on the door.

Toru groaned loudly, getting up to go answer it and found all three of his other bandmates on the other side. He sighed heavily, figuring at least Alex wasn't about to hound them if the other members were here. They followed him to Taka's couch, where he moved Taka's legs to sit beside him.

"I just got comfortable" Taka groaned, glaring at Toru as Ryota and Tomo sat on the couch and Alex on the coffee table.

"Your friends are here, be nice" Toru laughed, looking at Taka.

Taka groaned again, glaring at Toru, wondering if his ass was going to always hurt this much for the rest of his life. And he had _just_ told him his ass hurt, now he was forced to sit up and couldn't even cuddle against him. Goddamn bastard.

"Anyone got anything exciting to report doing yesterday?" Alex asked, looking straight at Toru and Taka.

"Slept in" Toru laughed, "what about everyone else?"

"Alex pissed me off all day in the dorm room" Ryota sighed.

Taka laughed, "he's the worst at showing up unannounced and refusing to leave"

"You never ask me to leave" Alex pointed, getting out his phone to text Taka. "I'd better get updates for keeping Ryota & Tomo out of your hair yesterday"

Taka read his phone, and sighed heavily, glaring at Alex.

" _I_ asked you to leave. Many times" Ryota groaned in response.

"I wanted to spend time with my favourite bassist, is that so bad?" Alex joked, mouthing 'you're welcome' to Toru and Taka.

"Yes" Ryota groaned.

"What did you do Tomo?" Toru asked, trying to change the conversation.

"Listened to these two bickering all day" Tomo laughed, "not sure they realised I was there"

"Now you know how irritating it is to deal with Taka and Ryota…" Toru responded.

"I'm not irritating…" Taka pouted his mouth as he looked at Toru.

"Yes you are" Ryota groaned, only to be slapped by Toru and kicked by Alex.

"What happened to you two getting along in Osaka?" Toru groaned, massaging his temples for the oncoming of a headache.

"Yea I thought we were a family Ryota" Taka joked, looking over at Ryota.

"Fine" Ryota sighed, realising Alex was giving him a death glare. "What's everyone doing for Christmas?"

"Probably having sex" Alex laughed. "What are you doing Ryota?"

"No plans" Ryota groaned, glaring at Alex. Then decided to change a topic to put the focus on someone else's secret relationship. "Are you going back to Osaka for Christmas, Toru? To see your girlfriend?"

"Probably not" Toru responded awkwardly, wondering how much longer he can pretend to be in a long distance relationship.

"Oh. That's too bad. We should all hang out as a band to make him feel better for not being with his girlfriend on Christmas…" Ryota mused, knowing this was going to be a no-go anyway.

"I think I'm gonna end things with her" Toru responded, suddenly realising the room was silent and staring at him. "We both knew it wasn't going to work out. I think everyone here knew it wasn't going to work"

Alex looked over at Taka, trying to figure out if Toru was talking about him or the pretend girl. He didn't look overly shocked, just quiet.

"Better to do it sooner rather than later…" Ryota mused, thinking he was talking about Taka.

"That's too bad, Toru…" Tomo said in agreement, also assuming he meant Taka.

"Should we leave so you can do it right now?" Ryota asked awkwardly, looking at Toru.

"Uh, yea, sure" Toru answered. "Thanks. I'll see you guys at rehearsal tonight"

"Yep. See you then" Ryota answered. "Are you coming with us Alex?"

"As someone who once got dumped right after losing their virginity, I'm just gonna talk to Toru" Alex answered.

"Fine. Are you gonna wait outside with us Taka?" Ryota asked, continuing to pretend to be oblivious.

"While you're waiting outside, check the name on this apartment" Taka responded.

"Pretty sure there is no Taka Morita living here. Isn't your last name Moriuchi?" Ryota smirked.

"What the _fuck_ " Taka groaned in disbelief, "I told you this. My mom got custody of me in the divorce. Thus I use her maiden name. Is that so difficult to understand?"

"That was a low blow, Ryota…" Tomo said quietly, looking at how angry Taka was about that comment. Especially after Toru just said they were going to breakup.

"You know it's Taka's apartment, he may as well be here" Toru gritted his teeth, ready to _strangle_ Ryota for that comment. 

"I may as well be here too, then" Ryota responded, refusing to move. "Since I am your best friend"

Alex glared at Ryota, "I'm going to tell Toru all about the time I first had sex, with details, you sure you want to be here for this?"

"Ok fine, I'm leaving" Ryota groaned, getting up and bringing Tomo with him.

Alex laughed, getting up to lock the door behind them then sitting back on the coffee table.

Taka let out a sigh of relief as soon as Ryota and Tomo were out. He laid back down on the couch, resting his head on Toru's lap. Toru played with Taka's hands, smiling as they finally got to be somewhat alone.

"Ok, well I was _going_ to ask if you meant you're dumping imaginary Osaka girlfriend or Taka, but I think I have an answer…" Alex laughed.

"Pretending to be in a relationship is difficult" Toru laughed.

"So, what did you two get up to yesterday?" Alex asked, looking between them.

"Sex" Taka answered, as Toru hit him for being so blunt. "Hey, he distracted the other two for us, we should at least tell him it was worth it"

"Fine. Thank you" Toru answered.

"So are you two actually back on track now? Taka's not in pain, terrified of Toru?" Alex smirked, looking between them.

"Oh. I'm in pain" Taka laughed, "don't make me sit for long periods of time after we do it that many times. My ass is killing me"

Alex burst out laughing, "how many times did you do it?"

"I don't actually remember…" Taka admitted.

"5 times" Toru responded, laughing as he held Taka's hands across his chest.

"Oh shiit, mr. 'I've never done it more than once in a single day'" Alex laughed, looking at Taka.

"Shut up" Taka laughed, "at least that was 5 times with the same person"

"Ok, you have me beat on that…" Alex admitted.

"Are you leaving now?" Toru asked, looking at Alex.

"Why? You want to beat your record of 5 times in one day?" Alex laughed.

"Ryota and Tomo are waiting for you, are they not?" Toru asked, "time for me to pretend to be very upset over the end of a relationship"

"Right…" Alex responded. "Anyway, I'll go tell _them_ you couldn't be reasoned with, you're about to dump her. And I'll tell _you_ , give Taka's ass a break and discuss telling Tomo and Ryota"

Taka groaned loudly, "but Ryota hates me again"

Alex sighed heavily, knowing Ryota only hates Taka because they're lying to him. "Whatever. Just tell them soon. Trying to keep up with your lies is exhausting"

"Fine" Toru sighed, "we'll tell them… eventually…"

"Before Christmas" Alex informed them.

"No" Toru groaned, "I don't want them thinking Taka's some rebound"

"Tell them there was no girlfriend in Osaka then" Alex suggested.

"I don't want them to think I lied to them either" Toru groaned.

"You did lie to them" Alex deadpanned.

"Can't you let us be happy and in love for like 5 minutes before you bring them up?" Taka groaned, "we just got out of a fight, stop introducing new ones"

"You've had 4 months" Alex reminded them.

"Fine. we'll debate it" Taka groaned, glaring at Alex.

"Ok, see you two later" Alex laughed, leaving the apartment and finding his two other bandmates outside waiting.

"So Taka and Toru are breaking up?" Ryota asked, looking at Alex as he exited the apartment building.

"Didn't I tell you I'm not giving you two regular updates on them?" Alex groaned, looking at Ryota.

"But he just said that he was gonna dump his girlfriend in Osaka, that's code for Taka right?" Ryota asked.

Alex sighed heavily, "pretend to console Toru through a breakup. Be nice to him, don't bicker with Taka, and eventually they'll come clean on everything"

"So they've broken up?" Tomo asked, "we're gonna have to console them"

"You didn't listen to me" Alex smirked, "you're going to _pretend_ to console Toru through a breakup"

"I wish they would just break up already…" Ryota muttered.

"And then you wonder why he hasn't told you yet…" Alex sighed, glaring at Ryota. "They're happy and in love, be happy for him as well. Would you not want Toru to be happy if _you_ were happy and in love with someone special?"

"What the fuck" Ryota groaned, glaring at Alex, "I'd be really happy if Toru just _told_ me he was in love with Taka. Or maybe just told me they were dating before things got this far"

"You weren't exactly happy with Taka joining the band…" Tomo pointed out. "Why would he want to tell you he was dating him when you were always so rude to Taka?"

" _And_ when you would never shut up with teasing him about the original date" Alex added on. " _And_ when Toru told you he might like Taka, you would never shut up about that and told me immediately afterward. So why would he to tell you?"

"Because I'm his best friend and we tell eachother everything?" Ryota groaned, feeling like he was being ganged up on.

" _Do_ you tell eachother everything?" Alex asked, giving a knowing look to Ryota. "He didn't want you to go telling everyone about his personal life. Is that so wrong?"

"You were the one who told me about their date" Ryota pointed out.

"Yea, that was when I actually thought they weren't gay and it was fun to tease Toru" Alex sighed, "as soon as I realised there was something there, I …mostly... stopped making jokes at their expense and began being a supportive friend to them. Maybe you should try it sometime"

"I am a supportive friend" Ryota groaned. "But he never told me"

"I'll keep this conversation in mind next time you have a relationship and don't tell Toru immediately…" Alex sighed, looking right at Ryota.

"Fine. I'll be supportive" Ryota groaned, "I have places to be. See you two later"

"Do you think he's ever going to accept them?" Tomo asked, watching Ryota walk away.

"He's just mad he's no longer the most important person in Toru's life" Alex sighed, "he'll come around once he gets past that"

"I hope you're right" Tomo sighed.

"I'm always right" Alex laughed, "see you later"

* * *

"What do we do?" Taka sighed, looking up at Toru. "I don't want them to hate me… especially Tomo. Him and I really get along. He even asked me if I liked you the other day and I lied and said no"

Toru also sighed, looking down at Taka, "you can tell him if you want. Just don't let him tell Ryota, I'll deal with that separately…"

"Shouldn't we have a family meeting and sit all our kids down at once and tell them?" Taka laughed, looking at Toru.

"No" Toru chuckled, "let's tell them separately, then let Ryota tell Tomo, and Tomo can pretend to be oblivious"

Taka laughed, "ok that works. I'll tell Tomo next time I'm on my own with him"

"Exam review day is tomorrow, so you can probably tell him then" Toru laughed, "just make sure to tell him the plan"

"Ok, sounds good…" Taka responded, "but now that we've got that out of the way, can we have sex again?"

Toru laughed before kissing Taka and taking him right on the couch.

* * *

"Alex suggests we combine the exam finishing party with my pretend breakup party…" Toru sighed, reading his text messages while lying in bed next to Taka.

Taka laughed, "are you gonna put on your best "I'm absolutely crushed face'?"

"I suppose I have to" Toru responded, kissing Taka. "We have to leave in an hour, one more time?"

"If you insist…" Taka smiled, looking up at Toru.

* * *

Toru and Taka arrived a few minutes late to the ramen house, and discovered the other members were already there waiting.

"Finally…" Ryota sighed, glaring at Toru and Taka as they sat down.

"Aren't you supposed to be nice to me since I broke up with my girlfriend today?" Toru asked, giving Ryota a very bored and very upset face.

"Fine" Ryota sighed again, "what are we drinking?"

"Sake" Toru answered, ordering for them all.

"So you broke up with her today?" Tomo asked, trying his best to look sympathetic.

"Yea" Toru sighed heavily, "I think we both knew it wasn't going to work though. She wasn't exactly surprised…"

"I can't believe you actually dumped her…" Alex sighed, putting on his best disapproval face, "you could have tried to make it work"

"No, it wasn't going to work" Toru groaned, drinking his sake, "like Ryota said, better sooner than later…"

"Precisely…" Ryota muttered, even if he meant Taka.

"I'm sorry, were we trying to cheer you up, or Toru?" Alex asked, noticing that Taka was filling up everyone's glass again as he continued drinking.

"What? I like sake?" Taka tried defending himself.

"Have you even had dinner yet? Or is this empty stomach drinking?" Alex laughed as their ramen arrived.

"Now I'm eating dinner…" Taka muttered, downing his drink again.

"Oh good. Nothing better than a drunk Taka…" Ryota laughed, hoping Taka was about to spill secrets.

"When have you ever seen me drunk?" Taka whined, drinking even more sake.

"I suppose never…" Ryota admitted, "but I bet you're a fun drunk"

"Thanks? I think?" Taka responded, tilting his head, somehow losing his balance and falling sideways onto Toru.

"Has he already had too much?" Alex laughed, watching as Taka was finishing another drink.

"Nooo" Taka whined, pouring himself another drink and drinking it before going back to rest his head on Toru's shoulder.

"Ok, maybe you've had a bit too much…" Toru laughed, feeling incredibly awkward about Taka's head on his shoulder.

"Noo, never too much…" Taka mumbled, drinking even more sake.

"Weren't we meant to be cheering up Toru, not babysitting Taka?" Ryota groaned, starting to get irritated with Taka.

"Ehhh, let him have his fun" Alex laughed. "He's a fun drunk, remember?"

Ryota sighed heavily, drinking his own sake to deal with Taka's drunkenness.

"They're cute" Alex whispered to Ryota, watching as Taka and Toru were bickering about something. Taka was drunk as hell, resting his head on Trou's shoulder while Toru looked to be dying of laughter at whatever Taka was mumbling about. "Wouldn't you love it if Michelle was hanging off of you like that"?

"What the fuck…" Ryota groaned, "Taka's irritating as hell and not even spilling any good secrets"

"What did you want? For him to admit everything?" Alex groaned quietly, "look how happy Toru is. That's a genuine smile that he _enjoys_ when Taka hangs off him"

"He'll get sick of him eventually" Ryota mused, "how much longer can he actually put up with this?"

"You mean like how he's getting sick of you?" Alex deadpanned, "they've been dating 4 months. Wouldn't he be sick of him by now?"

Ryota glared at Alex, then returned his gaze to across the table. Taka appeared to be half asleep, mumbling about something as Toru was smiling at him. He wasn't sure the last time Toru _actually_ looked that happy, but did have to admit they looked cute when Taka wasn't being loud and irritating.

And when he forgot that Toru never even told him.

Toru suddenly realised Ryota was staring at him and put on his act again. "Oi! Taka, you're drunk and falling asleep when you're meant to be comforting me through a breakup"

"Fine" Taka yawned, getting up to deal with the bill.

"Tomo, are you going over to Taka's place tomorrow? We're all at exam review day, so…" Toru asked discreetly, pulling him outside as Alex was inside still with Ryota.

"I assumed so" Tomo responded awkwardly.

"Yea, just a heads up. He can be kinda grumpy when hungover? So just uh, be patient with him?" Toru informed him awkwardly, wanting to make sure Taka wasn't going to bitch him out if he told the story and Tomo had questions.

"Ok" Tomo nodded, kind of confused about why that needed a discreet conversation.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taka and Tomo talk.  
> Tomo is shooketh by Taka and Takeru talking.  
> Alex is keeping too many secrets and is slipping up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh I only have like... two more non-sex scenes to write. The end is getting close. D:

Tomo showed up to Taka's apartment, bracing himself to deal with a grumpy Taka. He let himself into the apartment and found Taka on the couch, casually reading a magazine while lying down.

"Good morning" Taka greeted Tomo, sitting up to there was room on the couch for him.

"Morning" Tomo responded nervously.

"Why are you nervous?" Taka asked, looking at Tomo weirdly.

"I heard you're grumpy when hungover, and uh…" Tomo began trailing off.

"What? No I'm not. I'm a bit low energy, but not grumpy..." Taka looked confused, "what kind of _jackass_ told you I get grumpy?"

"Toru" Tomo admitted.

"Oh. He's only seen my hungover once, and I was in a fight with him…" Taka admitted awkwardly.

"Is that the day you asked me to stay over?" Tomo asked, looking at Taka.

"Yea…" Taka admitted, suddenly nervous about the prospect of telling Tomo.

"What were you fighting about?" Tomo asked, unsure if Taka was about to confess or go back to the missing family lie.

"It was dumb…" Taka admitted, "we got in a fight about… something in Osaka and I was being dumb and stubborn…"

"Was it because you miss your family?" Tomo asked, "that's what Toru said it was, right?"

Taka went all nervous, "I did miss my family, but, uh…. That wasn't what we were fighting about…"

"What were you fighting about, then?" Tomo asked, looking at Taka, thinking maybe this was the confession he's been waiting for. But he had been let down before, so he didn't have his hopes too high.

"It was… uh… you can't tell Ryota anything I'm about to tell you, ok?" Taka was incredibly nervous and couldn't look at Tomo.

"Yea, of course, I won't tell anyone" Tomo assured Taka, looking at how nervous and fidgety he was.

"Ok. Because Ryota would hate me. Also when he does learn, pretend to not know so he can gloat about being the first person to know" Taka laughed.

"Ok" Tomo laughed nervously.

"Ok. Uh. Actually the Osaka fight was dumb, I don't wanna get into it… but I uh… I'm uh… Toru's my boyfriend…" Taka admitted, afraid of looking up ar Tomo. "He never had a girlfriend in Osaka, that was just what he told Ryota so he wouldn't have to actually tell him… and then Toru didn't wanna keep up with the lie, so he said he dumped her"

"So that means… you were the one Toru had sex with?" Tomo asked, pretending to be oblivious.

"Yea…" Taka admitted awkwardly, still afraid of looking up, "that was part of the reason we were fighting… or the entire reason… but uh… we're not fighting about it anymore… I'm really sorry for lying about it to you. I didn't wanna tell Ryota and that was getting in the way of telling you… and I'm really sorry"

Tomo wasn't sure what to say, he definitely could not admit he's always known, so he opted to give Taka an enthusiastic hug.

"Ok, ok, you're crushing me" Taka groaned, not bothering to push Tomo off. "I don't do hugging"

"You don't even hug Toru?" Tomo laughed, crushing Taka tighter.

"Ahhh, I get enough flack from Alex teasing me, don't go joining in" Taka laughed. "And whatever you do, don't tell Ryota. Takeru only puts up with Toru because he knows we're dating, I don't wanna have the same awkward relationship with Ryota"

"I won't. I promise" Tomo laughed, letting go of Taka. "So who else knows?"

"Alex, Takeru, you" Taka answered, "so don't tell anyone else. And when we tell Ryota, pretend to not know"

"Got it" Tomo laughed, before hearing the door open and Takeru walking in.

"Oh, look at that, I finally get you without your irritating as hell friend…" Takeru noted, sitting down on the coffee table and texting Taka.

"He's at exam review…" Taka answered, groaning as he checked his phone, "oh. I just told Tomo about Toru. Only him though, don't mention it to Ryota"

"Oh good" Takeru responded, "because I didn't come all the way here to have to text you about the day of sex"

"The… what?" Taka laughed awkwardly.

"Alex told me not to show up here the day before yesterday because Toru cancelled rehearsal and figured it was because you were having sex all day long…" Takeru laughed.

Taka laughed awkwardly, "ha… yea… that is why he cancelled practice…"

"So how was it?" Takeru laughed.

"Good…" Taka admitted awkwardly.

"That's all you're gonna give me?" Takeru sighed, "I need more details than that"

"Fiine" Taka laughed, "we did it… uhh… I think 5 times? That day. I didn't count but apparently Toru did…"

"And in which rooms?" Takeru laughed.

"I don't remember ever actually leaving the bedroom that day…" Taka admitted awkwardly. "Wait. We did take a bath together at one point. Then went back to the bedroom…"

"So no kitchen sex yet?" Takeru asked, laughing hysterically at Taka's escapades.

"Nope" Taka answered, looking over at the kitchen. "Wait. Is this couch considered to be in the kitchen? Since it is just one big room…"

Takeru laughed hysterically, looking at Tomo's terrified face. "Don't worry, probably not the first time he's had sex on this couch"

"Sorry" Taka laughed, looking over at Tomo, "it was the first time having sex on it since meeting you though. If that makes you feel better?"

"Not really" Tomo laughed awkwardly, sitting beside Takeru on the coffee table. He heard the sound of the door opening and looked up, hoping that would be the end if this conversation.

Toru entered the room with Alex. Toru laid down across from Taka as Alex sat next to Tomo on the cofee table. Taka immediately used this opportunity to cuddle against Toru's chest.

"This is cozy…" Alex laughed awkwardly, unsure why they were cuddling when Tomo was there.

"Taka told me they're dating" Tomo answered.

"Ooooh, cuuuute" Alex laughed, "did you tell Ryota as well?"

"No" Toru sighed, "I'll tell him once he starts getting along with Taka…"

"Just tell him now" Alex groaned, "what good is waiting going to do?"

"He's just gonna hate Taka even more" Toru answered, hugging onto Taka.

"Is that why you never told me, Taka?" Takeru laughed, looking at Taka.

Taka laughed awkwardly, "no I figured you'd never stop hating Toru. And I told you eventually..."

"And I never will stop hating Toru…" Takeru chuckled, glaring at him.

"All because he spends too much time with Taka?" Tomo asked, looking at the death glares Toru and Takeru were giving each other.

"Oh. That's not why I hate Toru" Takeru responded, "although it doesn't really help his case…"

"That's what Taka told me…" Tomo answered awkwardly.

"The real story is Toru shattered Taka's heart years ago and I have yet to forgive him" Takeru said, shooting daggers at Toru.

"Don't you ever get bored of telling this story?" Taka groaned, "we're happy now"

"Nope" Takeru answered. "You may be happy now, but you were heartbroken after the date, and I was the one who had to pick up the pieces"

"Whatever" Alex groaned, "tell Ryota by new years"

"Wasn't it Christmas yesterday?" Taka laughed, looking at Alex.

"I'm feeling generous. Also he probably wants to spend Christmas with his girlf…." Alex trailed off, suddenly realising he was slipping. All the secrets of all the band members were beginning to get to him. 

"With his….?" Toru asked, looking at Alex.

"I said nothing" Alex defended himself.

"Girlfriend?" Toru asked, looking at Alex. "I haven't heard anything about a girlfriend"

"And has he heard of your boyfriend?" Alex smirked, "I don't actually know anything, I just saw him with someone in my usual sex spot on the roof"

"He was having sex?" Toru asked loudly, looking at Alex.

"I don't know. But I didn't have sex. When I saw him he was just making out with her" Alex laughed. "But maybe he did have sex with her, who knows"

"Why didn't you have sex? You only have one go to sex spot?" Taka laughed.

Toru sighed, looking at Taka, "or maybe he was questioning Ryota"

"I can barely believe Taka was the one reluctant to have sex" Alex laughed, "anyway. I _would_ have gone to one of my other sex spots, if it weren't for the girl I was about to fuck being friends with the girl Ryota was about to who knows what with"

"so you used that time to confront Ryota instead?" Toru asked, looking at Alex.

"He noped out of there before I could even ask him about it" Alex answered, leaving out the part about running into Toru afterwards.

Toru groaned, "use the girl you were about to fuck as a way to find out"

"How well do you think I actually know her?" Alex laughed.

"I haven't heard anything about this" Tomo admitted, "and I think he would tell me?"

"Maybe she was just a one and done" Alex laughed, not actually sure what was happening, "taking advice from Toru and losing his virginity to a one… afternoon stand?"

"The story was a girlfriend in Osaka" Toru groaned.

"Oh, I'm _sorry_ , I'm beginning to lose track of all the goddamn lies I tell for you to keep your relationship a secret" Alex groaned.

"We don't ask you to lie for us that often" Taka groaned.

"I feel like I lie all the goddamn time for you two…" Alex sighed heavily.

"We rarely ask you to lie" Toru groaned, "you only feel like you're lying constantly because _recently_ we've been trying to use a cover story. And we needed you to follow it to a tee"

"Well I pick Taka's side on things way more than he deserves" Alex answered, "it's exhausting trying to come up with reasons why I should take Taka's side other than 'Taka just wants Toru to suck his dick'"

"Ooooookay...." Taka laughed awkwardly, noticing how incredibly uncomfortable Tomo looked, "that's enough for you today"

"Why? You want us all to leave so Toru will suck your dick?" Alex laughed.

"No…" Taka tried to think of a better reason that wasn't 'I want you to leave so I can get fucked by Toru'.

"He wants to have sex" Takeru laughed, apparently reading Taka's mind.

"Fine. Yes. I want to have sex. Everyone out" Taka laughed in response, knowing that would definitely force everyone to leave.

Tomo laughed awkwardly, almost feeling grateful he didn't know earlier, and wasn't being subjected to this sex talk. "See you all at rehearsal tonight?"

"If Taka can manage to pull himself away from toru for long enough" Alex joked.

"Out" Toru ordered them, "don't be late. And don't tell Ryota. Whatever you do"

Alex and Tomo looked at each other awkwardly, realising they were really going to have to keep up the "Tomo and Ryota know nothing" lie. Ryota would fucking _strangle_ everyone if he discovered he was the last to know.

* * *

"So… which girl should I invite to Christmas…" Alex mused, sitting around the studio, waiting for Ryota to show up.

"Go with the one you actually like" Taka laughed.

"But what if the girl I like the most isn't the one who's best in bed…" Alex sighed, browsing his phone contacts.

"Go with the one who knows the girl Ryota was with" Toru answered.

"Just ask him yourself" Alex groaned, "where is that fucker anyway?"

"No idea…" Tomo mumbled.

"Having sex" Taka laughed, causing everyone to stare at him. "What? Alex was just telling us a story about Ryota making out with some girl on the rooftop"

"He does live om his own more or less…." Alex added on, suddenly angry. "Why would he take my sex spot when he could just go to the dorm..."

The conversation was interrupted by Ryota walking in with just a few minutes to spare.

"So Ryota, you have anything to tell the band?" Toru asked, looking at Ryota.

"No..." Ryota answered awkwardly, shooting questioning looks at Alex, who was avoiding his eye contact. 

"What are you Christmas plans, Ryota?" Tomo smiled, looking at Ryota.

"Of course Alex can't keep his mouth shut…" Ryota groaned, glaring at Alex.

"Let's just drop it, we should start practice…" Taka responded awkwardly, trying to get on his good side again.

"Yes. Thank you Taka" Ryota sighed, incredibly irritated that Alex could keep Toru's secrets but not his. But also kinda grateful that if they were practising, then no one would be down his throat.

Taka smiled weakly at Ryota, and tried to ignore Toru's sighing of wanting more information.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryota hides from Alex at Taka's apartment  
> Taka gives advice on dealing with Alex  
> Toru is a big hypocrite  
> He probably learnt that from his best friend though

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I only have one more scene to write (crying)  
> There's another... 3 chapters I think?

Taka was sat around his apartment, alone for once. Toru was out buying condoms and lube, and Taka was lazy and didn't feel like leaving the apartment. Except it's been almost an hour and now Taka was bored as hell. 

Taka heard the sound of his apartment door opening, and assumed it was Toru coming home. He went to the door to greet him, only to find Ryota in his genkan, alone.

"Toru's not here" Taka informed him, assuming that's why he showed up.

"I'm hiding from Alex, and figured this is the one place he wouldn't search for me..." Ryota admitted, looking at the ground and thinking this was a dumb as hell idea.

"I should probably warn you that Alex makes regular unannounced visits then" Taka laughed awkwardly, locking the door. "But at least he doesn't have a key"

"Thanks" Ryota laughed, following Taka into the main area and sitting on his couch, "where is Toru?"

"He went out" Taka answered, definitely not wanting to admit Toru's shopping list. Also not sure why it's taking him so long to go to the pharmacy down the road. 

"Out where?" Ryota asked.

"Not entirely sure" Taka laughed awkwardly, "he comes and goes as he pleases. I don't actually keep tabs on him all the time"

"Oh, right" Ryota laughed, "sometimes I kinda forget he doesn't actually live here"

"Yea…" Taka laughed awkwardly, looking at the ground. "So why are you hiding from Alex?"

"I know he's told everyone about Michelle" Ryota sighed, glaring at Taka.

"I mean he didn't really tell us anything beyond something about the school roof" Taka admitted, "and I should warn you, that Toru also wants information. And he does have a key…"

"Of course he does" Ryota groaned, knowing Toru hasn't told him a single thing about his relationship.

"I try to convince Toru not to pry too much" Taka admitted, "and so far he's been pretty good I think?"

"He hasn't been that bad" Ryota admitted, "but I could fucking strangle Alex any second now"

"For telling us?" Taka asked, looking at Ryota.

"That and the questions" Ryota sighed, wondering if Taka ever felt this frustrated with Alex.

"Answer them" Taka suggested, "it keeps him happy"

"So he can go blabbing to Toru?" Ryota pointed out.

"I've discovered the best way to deal with Alex is to keep him happy. If he thinks you're not telling him something, he'll tease you about whatever stupid theory he's made up in his mind" Taka laughed, "so if you answer his questions, he'll be happy, and then you ask him to not tell anyone. And since he's happy, he agrees"

"His questions are so irritating though" Ryota groaned. "I don't think I can deal with them"

"He'll get bored once he has the full story and you go along with the questioning" Taka laughed, "try telling him things unprompted as well. Then he thinks you're coming to him with everything and it's easier to hide the things you really don't want him knowing about"

Ryota sighed, figuring Taka was right. Taka did apparently have experience in being the subject of Alex's theories. "Thanks. He's just a lot to deal with"

"Oh trust me, I know" Taka laughed awkwardly, suddenly remembering Ryota didn't actually know anything.

Ryota also laughed awkwardly, knowing exactly what Taka was referring to. But since Taka was probably giving good advice, and shielding him temporarily from Alex, he figured he shouldn't ruin the moment. And if Toru loved Taka as much as Alex claimed he did, may as well accept him now before Toru ditched him forever. 

"Uhh… so do you want like, food or something?" Taka asked awkwardly, not sure what to talk about. "Or beer, I have lots of beer…"

"Uh, yea" Ryota laughed, "do you want me to grab a beer for you as well?"

"Sure, thanks" Taka laughed, taking the beer from Ryota as he returned.

"I'm sorry for the other day when I brought up the last name thing" Ryota admitted.

"It's fine" Taka sighed, "I suppose a last name can seem like a silly thing to get upset about if you didn't grow up with the expectations attached to it. And the failure of expectations…"

"The NEWS thing?" Ryota asked, looking at Taka.

"That whole time period" Taka admitted. 

Ryota nodded, "I get it. Sorry for bringing it up again"

"It's fine" Taka laughed awkwardly, "just don't bring it up anymore?"

Ryota nodded, trying to think of a better conversation topic.

"I'm kinda glad you came here…" Taka admitted, staring at the ground. "I thought you were mad at me for something. I really liked spending time with you in Osaka. And uh, thought I did something to piss you off since coming back?"

Ryota felt bad. He also liked spending time with Taka in Osaka, and was kind of beginning to feel bad after being ganged up on by Tomo and Alex. And for lying about his own relationship. "It's not your fault. I had my own stuff going on"

"Ah, ok" Taka nodded, "I didn't mean to pry. Uh. Since that's why you came here. To avoid prying, I mean"

Ryota laughed awkwardly, watching Taka trip over his words. "Yea. I liked hanging out in Osaka. Thanks for the advice as well"

"No problem" Taka laughed. "Anytime you need to talk to someone who doesn't pry too much"

"I may take you up on that" Ryota sighed.

"Alex is also… weirdly good at advice sometimes" Taka laughed.

"I really can't imagine that" Ryota burst out laughing.

"Yea I can't believe I said that either" Taka also burst out laughing. "But I'm actually being serious. It's like a… rare reward for putting up with his questions. if you feed him enough information he'll return advice?"

"Ok, are you sure you're not Alex as a shape shifting alien?" Ryota asked, only partly joking.

"Pretty sure I'm Taka" Taka burst out laughing. "There's no way Alex would be patient enough to first have an entire conversation without bringing it back to… y'know, every other sentence. And I haven't told you any sex stories"

"Fair enough" Ryota laughed, "why is he like that?"

"The sex stories or the information?" Taka asked, continuing laughing.

"Both" Ryota answered.

"Sex stories is so he can show off that girls like him" Taka laughed awkwardly, "information? I think he just likes knowing everyone's business. Either that or he's an alien and sends it all back to his home planet"

"Maybe he's secretly sending us all signals that aliens exist and needs our help" Ryota mused, "but we all think he's just dumb and believing the made up shit from his magazines"

"As long as he leaves us for his home planet eventually" Taka laughed, "he can take whatever information he wants"

"Weren't you just singing his praises?" Ryota burst out laughing.

"Not sure I'd qualify that as praises" Taka laughed, "he's just a lot easier to deal with when he's happy"

"Thanks anyway. For the advice and the hiding place" Ryota laughed awkwardly, "I'm gonna go now. See you tonight"

"Yep, see you later" Taka smiled as Ryota got up and left the apartment.

And now he was bored. And hard. Staring at the ceiling, wondering when Toru was going to come back with condoms and lube. How long does it actually take to walk to the pharmacy down the road and back. He stared at his watch, trying to remember what time it was when Toru left. Then decided to just text him. "Are you almost home?"

* * *

Toru entered his dormroom, and found it empty. He realised Ryota was probably out with his secret girlfriend or whatever, and made a mental note to point out he was at the dorm and Ryota wasn't there. He took the stuffed koala off his bed, and put it in one of his shopping bags, trying to think of when he was going to give the present to Taka. He figured he'd think of that later, and hid the bag in his closet, away from Ryota's questioning. He also grabbed a few articles of clothing, just so he'd have something to wear when Taka decided to wear his clothes. 

Then he heard his phone go off and sat on the excessively hard mattress, checking the message from Taka. He smiled at his phone, realising that Taka referred to the apartment as his home, despite Toru currently being in his technical home. This sterile, empty dorm room. He typed a quick reply, "got sidetracked. Gonna be home soon :)" then headed back to Taka's apartment. The place he actually considers to be his home.

Toru got back to Taka's apartment and found it was locked, weird. So he opened it with his key, and found the main room was empty, also weird. Walking into the bedroom, he found Taka naked from the waist down, his hand on his dick.

"Are you going to help me with this or what?" Taka whined, staring at Toru with need and lust.

"Ahh, this is why you wanted me home so quickly" Toru chuckled, immediately removing his own clothing before propping himself on his elbow beside Taka. "What are you thinking of?"

"You doing something other than just staring at me you perv" Taka groaned, wanting Toru inside him, not just staring at him. "Why did you even get naked if you're not going to fuck me?"

"Why _aren't_ you naked if you're going to let me fuck you?" Toru smirked, pointing out that Taka still had a shirt on.

Taka took off his shirt, "are you happy now? Will you fuck me yet?"

"What are you thinking about?" Toru asked again, looking at Taka's hard dick.

"Well now I'm thinking of murdering me if you don't get me off" Taka groaned, tired of the torture Toru was putting him through.

"Kinky" Toru chuckled, "your dick's hard as you think of murdering me?"

"I'm impatient with you, doing it myself" Taka sighed, going back to jerking himself off as Toru watched.

"What are you thinking of right now?" Toru whispered in Taka's ear, hoping he would finally get the hint.

Taka glared at Toru, wondering why they can't just fuck already. They're both already naked, in bed, both hard. Why can't they just have sex instead of Taka having to do everything himself. "Can you… at least play… with my nipple… or something…" Taka choked out, breathless as he played with himself.

"Is that what you're thinking of?" Toru asked, his voice low and needy in Taka's ear, as he used his free hand to play with Taka's nipple.

Taka arched his back as Toru was at least playing with his nipple. It was no sex, but at least Toru was helping a bit. Then it occurred to him. He could almost slap himself in the face for being so stupid. "And of you… biting my neck"

Toru leaned over to softly nibble on Taka's neck, thinking _now_ his dumb, loveable boyfriend gets the hint.

"No…. Hard…" Taka groaned, still jerking himself off. Even though his wrist was getting sore. "Bite me... hard... and jerk me off"

Toru inwardly chuckled, wonndering if he was actually fantasizing about a handjob or just lazy. But decided to go along with it. "Like this?" Toru whispered, taking Taka's hardened cock in his right hand and biting on his neck, leaving a mark.

Taka nodded, throwing his head back and wishing Toru was inside him already. He had been waiting _hours_ for him to return.

Ok, it may not have been _hours,_  but Taka was so horny he couldn't actually wait anymore. "Do the... finger thing"

Toru obliged, grabbing the lube from the bag and opening it up. Smearing it on his fingers, and Taka's entrance. Getting him ready for sex. Listening to Taka's impatient moans and groans as he made a scissor motion, occasionally hitting his prostate, knowing what Taka wanted but waiting for instruction.

"Put my… ah… legs… over shoulders" Taka moaned, "and fuck me already you jackass"

"Demanding" Toru smirked, rolling on a condom before lifting Taka's legs over his shoulders. He slowly entered him, watching as Taka's face winced a bit. He leaned forward, realising just how flexible Taka's legs are, and kissed him gently.

"Are you gonna fuck me alr-" Taka's sentence was cut off by a loud groan of pleasure. Feeling Toru thrust so deeply inside him, hitting that spot over and over again, his mind went blank. Squeezing his eyes shut, listening to his loud moaning mix in with Toru's repeated grunts. He grabbed on to Toru's arms, this was all so much pleasure he couldn't even think.

Toru felt Taka grab onto his arms, and began thrusting harder, and deeper. He loved being inside Taka, watching Taka's expressions, knowing _he_ was the one making Taka feel so good. Knowing they were _both_ making each other feel so good. And Taka's ass was so tight, the friction against his dick was so amazing. So warm, and so tight, he could feel himself inching closer as he tried to get deeper. He grabbed Taka's hardened cock, hearing his breathing hitch, and began jerking him off. And it didn't take much, Taka came quickly, letting out a loud groan, spilling himself between them as Toru gave a final few thrusts, letting out loud grunts before finishing as well.

Taka shivered as Toru pulled out of him, disposing of the condom and cleaning them both off. "I love you toru"

"I love you too" Toru smiled, kissing Taka's forehead as they both cuddled.

"So what did take you so long?" Taka asked, looking over at Toru, "it felt like you were gone for hours"

"I wasn't gone for _hours_ " Toru laughed, "it was two hours tops"

"It felt like a long time" Taka laughed.

"I grabbed some stuff from my dorm" Toru answered, "not sure why I feel like I can never find the clothes I keep here…"

"Weird" Taka laughed awkwardly, "maybe you don't have as much clothing here as you thought you did…"

"Yea, sure that's why" Toru smirked, looking at Taka. "Ryota wasn't there…"

"Pretty sure he's allowed to leave the dorm" Taka laughed awkwardly, not sure if he should say something. 

"Probably at his girlfriend's place or something" Toru groaned.

Taka sighed heavily, glaring at Toru, "and you're at your boyfriend's place or whatever"

"He's never even told me about her" Toru groaned, "but he's told Alex?"

"Alex literally said he knows nothing other than he caught them kissing" Taka sighed, "how do we even know she is his girlfriend? And pretty sure you have a bit of experience with Alex…"

"Alex referred to her as his girlfriend" Toru pointed out.

"And how many times did he refer to me as your boyfriend before we started dating?" Taka asked, "because he referred to you as my boyfriend many, many times when there was nothing there"

"A lot of times…" Toru admitted.

"Exactly" Taka sighed, "and didn't you just get dumped or something? Maybe he didn't want to make you feel bad"

"I dumped her" Toru pointed out.

"She doesn't exist. It doesn't matter which way it happened" Taka groaned. "Either way, he's literally doing the exact same thing you did. Cut him some slack"

Toru sighed heavily, glaring at Taka, "I suppose you're right…"

"Of course I am" Taka giggled, kissing Toru. "Now, can we talk about something other than Ryota?" 

Toru laughed, pulling Taka to be on his chest and kissing his forehead. "Wanna nap? I'm kinda tired..." 

Taka nodded, also very exhausted from the sex they just had. 

* * *

"We are cancelling rehearsal Saturday, right?" Alex asked at the end of rehearsal, looking up from his phone at Toru.

"Why would we cancel rehearsal Saturday?" Toru asked, looking at Alex suspiciously.

"Because it's Christmas…" Alex informed him, "i'm having sex, Ryota's probably-"

"Just shut up" Ryota groaned, glaring at Alex.

"Ryota definitely doesn't have a date" Alex laughed, "what about the rest of you?"

"No plans" Taka responded honestly, realising he should have prepared something in advance.

"Nope, me neither" Toru admitted, wondering if perhaps Taka did actually plan anything in secret.

"I have no plans" Tomo added on, even though he knew this question was only asked to make everyone else feel awkward.

"Well I suppose you idiots can rehearse without me" Alex laughed, "if none of you have dates. I, however, will be having wild sex with-"

"We really don't care" Toru groaned, "rehearsal is cancelled Saturday. Just please don't tell us any details"

"Excellent" Alex smirked. "You four have fun definitely not having dates"

Ryota glared at Alex before leaving, and feeling him stalk home behind him. "What do you want?"

"Just a nice chat with my favourite bassist in your dorm room. Is that so bad?" Alex smirked.

"Yes" Ryota groaned, letting him into the dormroom anyway.

"Ahhh, just like Taka you are" Alex chuckled, following into the dormroom that Ryota clearly didn't want him in. "No worries though, because unlike Toru, when I say I'm not gay, I actually mean it"

"Just go to sleep" Ryota sighed heavily.

"Why? Big date tomorrow?" Alex chuckled.

"Do you piss off Toru and Taka this much?" Ryota groaned, glaring at Alex.

"I used to" Alex laughed, "it's kinda boring now that they just tell me things without putting up a fight"

Ryota inwardly laughed, realising that that was the advice Taka gave him. Just answer questions and he'll get bored.

"So now that my precious flowers have finally bloomed in to a fully grown, boring old married couple..." Alex smirked looking over at Ryota. "Why don't you tell me about your Christmas plans? Is it dinner or just sex?"

"What the fuck" Ryota groaned, he had been willing to tell Alex about his girlfriend, but not willing to even discuss sex.

"I broke down Toru, I can break down you just as easily" Alex chuckled. "Now, tell me about your plans for Christmas, or I'll tell you about mine"

Ryota glared at Alex, kind of curious how he managed to break down toru. "Try me"

"Ahhh, finally. Someone's willing to listen to my wonderful stories" Alex chuckled, going on and on about all the sex he's been having. In explicit details.

Ryota stared at the ceiling, listening. He had become so numb to Alex's stories, listening to them all the goddamn time. They actually weren't even as bad as he expected it would be. Did this actually break down Toru? What a weak individual. Besides, Ryota figured he may as well use this information for future use.

Alex realised he had gotten to the end of his story, and Ryota hadn't shown any form of discomfort. Just sat there and listened. His brain began doing gearwork, trying to figure out why.

"Holy shit" Alex exclaimed, "you've done it already, haven't you?"

"No" Ryota groaned, regretting not putting a stop to the story long ago.

Alex burst out laughing, "holy crap crap crap. I didn't realise you were actually getting so far already. You little non-virgin you"

"Can you shut up? You're gonna wake up my floormates" Ryota groaned, "I haven't had sex. You just always tell the same repetitive stories with different names"

"Huuuh, but you're not nearly as squeamish as Toru was when I got him to crack" Alex mused, "is it because you already have plans to do it?"

"If I tell you about my girlfriend, will you fucking shut up about sex?" Ryota sighed, not wanting to have to admit to any plans and figured he may as well begin taking Taka's advice. Why the fuck didn't he just do that earlier.

"Yes" Alex laughed, "so she is your girlfriend?"

"That's literally what I just said" Ryota groaned.

"And how long have you been keeping this from me?" Alex asked with great excitemeent, "and from Toru, may I add"

"End of November I guess" Ryota sighed, "wasn't sure if it was going to go anywhere so I never said anything. Then by the time it was going somewhere, Toru was having problems and I didn't wanna shove it in his face. Although apparently it was dumb to wait on telling him"

"Ahh, end of November. So when are you going to have sex?" Alex asked, laughing.

"I just told you I'm not talking about that" Ryota groaned, "go to sleep"

"I'll make sure to ask you later then" Alex laughed.

Ryota sighed, staring at ceiling. At least he could manage to put this off a whole other day. "Can you not tell anyone? You did keep Toru and Taka secret for a very long time…"

"Fine" Alex sighed. "Tell him eventually though"

Ryota rolled over, staring at the wall. Maybe Taka wasn't actually that bad.


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryota shows up to Taka's apartment  
> Toru is not happy Taka gave advice to Ryota on Alex  
> Tomo and Ryota pretend to be oblivious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ONLY... TWO MORE CHAPTERS AFTER THIS? I think.  
> Also what voices do people read fanfic in? Because I don't really read them in any special voices, then I read some Larry Stylinson fanfic today and noticed I read it in their voices... yet I never do that with Toruka fanfic....

Taka and Toru were cuddling in bed after a round of morning sex. Sharing kisses, giggling, as they smiled at each other during the moments after climax. This was so warm, and comfy, Taka didn't want to ever get out of bed.

Except there was a knocking on the door and he could probably murder whoever was on the other side. He got up, threw on some sweatpants and a tshirt, and went to go open it as Toru was also putting on some clothes.

Taka opened the door, and found Ryota on the other side. Of course it was the one person he couldn't even bitch out for ruining his precious moments cuddling in bed with Toru. "Hiding from Alex again?"

Ryota laughed when he realised Taka was wearing Toru's shirt and noticed Toru exiting Taka's bedroom. He tried to duck when he saw Toru, but it was too late and Toru was looking at him weirdly. He sighed loudly, realising he may face another barrage of questions from Toru.

Taka looked behind him, "I can deal with him if you wanted to hide here"

"Yea, sure" Ryota nodded, locking the door behind him. He followed Taka to the main area, sitting on the couch beside Taka on the opposite side of Toru.

"I went to the dorm yesterday" Toru started with.

"Wait, what?" Ryota asked, looking at Toru. "When?"

"Afternoon" Toru answered. "Noticed you weren't there"

"I don't stay in the dorm all day, praying you'll one day actually show up" Ryota groaned, glaring across Taka at Toru.

"Were you at her house?" Toru asked, only to get slapped by Taka.

"We've talked about this" Taka groaned, glaring at Toru. "Let it go"

"Thank you Taka. What a good friend you are" Ryota gave a fake smile to Toru.

Taka was sat in the middle of this glaring war now between Ryota and Toru. Huh, is this how Toru always felt sitting between him and Ryota. He stared at his feet, not sure what to do. Then he heard Toru's stomach rumble, and either instinct or routine kicked in. "Did you want me to make rice? You haven't had breakfast yet…"

"I can make my own rice" Toru sighed, "did you want tea?"

"Yea, thanks" Taka smiled at Toru before remembering Ryota was also there. "Did you want breakfast or something?"

"Breakfast?" Ryota asked, looking at his watch, "you both know it's after 1, right?"

"Or something then" Taka laughed, realising they must have been cuddling in bed for at least an hour or two.

"No I'm good" Ryota answered. "Thanks though"

"No problem" Taka responded.

"I took your advice on Alex" Ryota told Taka while Toru was in the kitchen.

"Did it shut him up?" Taka laughed.

"Did what shut who up?" Toru asked, placing a cup of tea in front of Taka.

"Nothing important" Taka answered, trying to give Toru a 'drop it' facial expression.

"Taka have me advice on dealing with Alex" Ryota explained.

Toru glared at Taka, "what was the advice?"

"To not tell him anything and distract him with alien stories?" Taka looked at Toru nervously, hoping Ryota wasn't about to tell Toru otherwise.

Ryota looked back and forth at them. Toru was glaring at Taka, who was telling lies. Was he not meant to tell Toru this…? He wasn't sure if this was about to escalate into a fight, and shit Alex is going to murder him if he caused a fight between his _precious flowers_. "I should go now"

Toru watched as Ryota scurried out of the apartment and looked back at Taka. "What was the real advice?"

"Don't know what you're talking about" Taka groaned, staring at the floor.

"You're a terrible liar, you know" Toru pointed out. "What was the advice? And when did you even give it to him?"

"Don't you think it's a _bit rich_ to be demanding information about Ryota's relationship, when he knows nothing about your own?" Taka asked, looking straight at Toru.

"I told him I had sex with my girlfriend in Osaka. And as far as he knows, I was being honest about that" Toru pointed out. "So what was the advice?"

"That's not called being honest" Taka groaned, "that's called lying to your supposedly best friend"

"You lie to him too" Toru pointed out, "now what was the advice?"

"I told him to tell Alex everything and it'll get him to shut up" Taka admitted, staring at the ground nervously.

"What the fuck" Toru glared at Taka, "you told him to tell Alex but actively tell me not to bother him?"

"He was irritated with Alex's questions and came here to hide" Taka groaned, "and _you_ know how bad Alex's questions are. I felt bad that Alex has been keeping us a secret for months, while Alex has been blabbing to everyone about him"

"Then why the fuck couldn't you just encourage him to tell me as well?" Toru began raising his voice.

"He didn't want to tell you. I didn't ask why. I figured he probably has his reasons" Taka groaned, "it's not like you tell him everything"

"As far as he knows I do" Toru groaned loudly.

"And as far as you know, maybe there is no girlfriend and Ryota just doesn't tell you about every girl he kisses" Taka yelled.

"You still shouldn't be keeping secrets about my best friend from me" Toru began raising his voice louder.

"I'm not keeping secrets" Taka spat back. "He came over and I promised I wouldn't ask him anything. I know nothing more than you do"

"you shouldn't have hid that from me then" Toru yelled.

Taka glared at Toru, not liking this yelling they were doing and stomped off to his bedroom before he said something he might regret. He laid on his bed, wondering how long he should wait for Toru to calm down. Taka figured he may as well use this time to mentally debate how to tell Ryota, feeling a knot in his stomach when he realised Ryota was going to hate him for all the lying he had been doing. Beginning to think maybe they should have been honest from the start, to avoid dealing with the mess they were dealing with now. Partly wishing he hadn't already told Tomo the truth, maybe Ryota would be less likely to hate him if they claimed they only just started dating.

* * *

Toru ate his rice, wanting to give Taka some time to calm down. Worried that this is exactly what Taka was doing when they were having a fight over sex. Just with more verbal arguing. And less crying. At the very least, at least he wasn't feeling helpless while listening to Taka crying alone. And since he didn't _want_ it to get to the point where Taka would be crying and thinking of leaving him, he figured he could just bring his tea to him. As a way to gauge whether or not Taka wanted to see him.

He got up and knocked on the door before opening it and placing the tea on the nightstand. "It was gonna get cold…"

"Thanks" Taka sighed, sitting up slightly and drinking the tea quickly, as it was already kinda cold.

"Are you ok?" Toru asked, wondering if Taka was ok with him intruding.

"Yea" Taka answered, "I just wanted to calm down before saying anything I'd regret"

Toru nodded, sitting on the bed beside Taka. "I'm sorry for getting mad about you not telling me about Ryota"

"I didn't think it was that big a deal" Taka admitted. "he was hiding here from Alex, and seemed pissed that Alex had told us the roof story. So I just told him if he keeps Alex happy, Alex is good at secrets"

"Did he question what experience you have with Alex?" Toru asked.

"No" Taka answered, "but I figured since I said I would stop you from asking questions, he probably wouldn't ask me"

"Good point" Toru admitted, "when are we telling him?"

"I don't know" Taka groaned, "he's gonna hate me when he discovers all the lying I've been doing. I feel like him and I are actually somewhat friends, and he's gonna just. I don't know. Go back to hating me if I tell him how much lying I've done"

"You're not the one who's going to bear the brunt of it" Toru sighed, lying down next to Taka. "All the lying you did can be explained by 'we're not that close'. I'm his best friend, I probably should have told him…"

"I'm sorry for not wanting you to" Taka sighed, cuddling on Toru's chest.

"I didn't really wanna tell him either" Toru admitted, stroking Taka's back underneath his shirt. "i still really don't wanna tell him…"

"How much longer do we think we can push back Alex's deadline of new years eve?" Taka chuckled.

"Probably by a fair bit" Toru laughed, kissing Taka's forehead. "I love you"

"I love you too" Taka smiled, kissing Toru. He lowered his kisses to Toru's neck, biting hard and probably leaving a few marks.

Toru moaned loudly, going from stroking Taka's back to clawing at it. "You're going to leave a lot of hickeys…"

"So?" Taka laughed between leaving love bites, "you leave them on me all the time…"

"At least you get to wear my sweater out of the deal" Toru moaned before flipping Taka onto his back. "What am I going to wear?"

"Turtleneck" Taka laughed, reaching up to kiss Toru, only to be swerved and feeling Toru biting his neck. He groaned loudly, pulling Toru closer to receive more bites before taking off Toru's shirt.

"Not sure I have any here" Toru admitted, removing Taka's shirt before biting his neck even more.

"I have one that's too big-mmm…" Taka groaned, feeling Toru play with his nipple all while biting, sucking, and flicking his tongue against his neck. He pulled Toru even closer, craving even more of the sensation.

Toru smirked, moving his hands down Taka's body as he removed his sweatpants and briefs, leaving Taka completely naked. He bit on Taka's neck some more, listening to him moan, calling out his name as Taka took off Toru's sweatpants and briefs. Toru grabbed Taka's already hardened cock, and stroked it gently.

"Stop being such a fucking tease" Taka groaned, biting down on Toru's neck again, craving more than just tender strokes on his very hard member. He took Toru's penis in his hand as well, just holding it, not even stroking it to give Toru a taste of his own medicine. All while continuing his quest of leaving as many hickeys on Toru as possible.

Toru moaned, feeling Taka's teeth on his neck, and began pumping Taka's dick. He moaned even louder, when Taka returned the favour. The sensations of Taka's teeth, and the sound fo his moans between sucking his neck, and his hands were all too much for Toru. And he didn't want to cum before they had sex. So he removed his hand from Taka's dick and grabbed the lube and condoms from the side table.

Taka watched as Toru got out the goods, anticipation building as he spread his legs out and felt the cold liquid on his ass. He whimpered as Toru began massaging his insides, sucking on Toru's neck even more. Biting down harder as he felt Toru's finger brush against his prostate, whimpering loudly as he purposefully massaged it. He continued biting, sucking, lost in the feeling, unable to control himself before Toru removed his fingers, and he whimpered at the loss of contact.

Toru smiled down at Taka, rolling on the condom and applying more lube before putting one of Taka's legs over his shoulder. He inserted himself slowly into Taka, listening to his groans. He gave Taka a few seconds to adjust before he began thrusting recklessly in and out. Grunting loudly, listening to Taka's crying of his name.

"Toru… fuck…" Taka moaned, squeezing his eyes shut, this position was too good. Toru was hitting that spot over and over again, making his vision turn white as he could barely contain himself. He felt Toru lean over, meeting their lips together in a dirty kiss. Toru's tongue swirling around his, even if Taka was weak, feeling too good to reciprocate very much.

Toru bit Taka's neck, realising how close he was. He began thrusting harder, and deeper, also giving Taka's weeping cock some much needed attention. He thrusted faster, feeling the friction, listening to Taka's incredibly loud cries of his names, feeling Taka's head begin to bury in his neck, biting down again. And release.

Taka's breathing slowed down, trying to catch his breath as Toru removed himself, returning Taka's leg to be on the bed. He cleaned himself off, watching Toru do the same before cuddling together in bed. "I'm really glad I changed my mind about sex"

"I'm glad you did too" Toru smiled, feeling Taka roll over onto his chest. "I was kinda worried when you said you wanted to try again"

"Why?" Taka laughed awkwardly, "did you not want to try again?"

"I did" Toru laughed nervously, "but you made it really clear you didn't want to. And I was ok with never doing it, but Takeru told me it gets better. And I figured he probably knew something about that… so I thought maybe you would like it… and asked goddamn Alex if I should ever bring it up and he said to just wait for you to bring it up. Then a few hours later you brought it up. I was kinda afraid Alex talked you into it or something…"

Taka looked at Toru weirdly, "when did you talk to Alex about it?"

"The day of my last exam" Toru admitted.

"Ahhhh…." Taka laughed awkwardly. "I talked to him and Takeru the day before about doing it again. When the three of us were cuddling in bed"

Toru laughed hysterically, "what was the story behind the cuddling?"

"Usually they just gang up on me in the main area" Taka laughed, "then I think Takeru mentioned we talked in my bedroom about it, and of course Alex wanted to then go talk about it in my bed"

"He's so weird" Toru laughed, holding Taka closer to him.

"He is" Taka groaned, "but he gives good advice, so I let it slide. He's also gonna tease the hell out of us for these hickeys"

"Oh god" Toru groaned, "you better have a turtleneck that actually fits me, because there's no way I'll survive Ryota's questions if I show up to rehearsal with a million hickeys on my neck"

"Sorry" Taka laughed, not sorry at all. "They felt good though?"

"They did" Toru admitted, kissing Taka again.

* * *

Tomo and Ryota were the first to arrive at the rehearsal space. They got set up, then sat against a wall waiting for the others to arrive.

"Where do you think everyone is?" Tomo asked, looking at his watch.

"Alex is probably having sex, no idea about Toru and Taka though" Ryota sighed. "I think they might be having a fight…"

"Why would you think that?" Tomo asked, looking at Ryota.

"I went to Taka's place yesterday, to hide from Alex. And he gave me advice for dealing with Alex… then I was there today and he was lying to Toru to cover for me" Ryota admitted. "They were glaring at each other, and Toru could tell Taka was lying. So I left, and heard them having a yelling match as I was waiting for the elevator…"

"What were they yelling about?" Tomo asked nervously.

"I couldn't hear what they were saying, just the volume" Ryota admitted. "But I assume it was something to do with Taka shielding me from Toru's questioning…"

"Should we ask Alex if they're ok?" Tomo asked, remembering that Ryota couldn't know that they've told him.

"He's gonna hate me if I caused a fight between them" Ryota sighed. "We should probably just wait to see if they're at each other's throats"

"Good point" Tomo nodded, "maybe they're just running late for an unrelated reason"

Alex walked in a few seconds later, setting up then realising Toru and Taka weren't there. He laughed to himself, assuming they lost track of time having sex.

"What's so funny?" Ryota sighed, looking at Alex.

"Toru and Taka aren't here " Alex answered.

"We've noticed. Toru would kill us for only being… 6 minutes early" Ryota looked at his watch.

"They probably just lost track of time" Alex laughed, "if you know what I mean"

"No, we don't" Ryota groaned, "because they don't tell us things, only you"

"They probably lost track of time, in the bedroom" Alex laughed some more.

"I thought you said they were having a fight over sex?" Ryota cocked his head.

"They were" Alex laughed a bit, "then they got over that fight… if you know what I mean"

Tomo recalled the conversation he listened to between Taka and Takeru, and just prayed this wasn't about to turn into that again.

"Stop saying if you know what you mean" Ryota groaned, "they don't tell us anything"

"Ah, my sweet Ryota…" Alex laughed, giving Ryota a knowing look but not saying anything.

Ryota glared at Alex, not wanting to push in case he actually said something in front of Tomo.

The door slammed open as Toru and Taka scurried in. Both of them were wearing turtle necks, and Alex tried to contain his laughter. "Didn't realise it was so cold outside…"

"It's December you fucking idiot" Toru groaned, glaring at Alex.

"None of us are wearing turtle necks" Alex pointed out.

"Shut up, let's just practice" Taka sighed, staring daggers at Alex.

"I don't get it" Tomo whispered in Ryota's ears, "what's so funny?"

"Hickeys" Ryota whispered back.

"Are you two done sharing secrets or are we going to practice?" Alex asked, glaring at Tomo and Ryota.

"Yep, we just can't figure out what's weird about turtlenecks. It's cold in here, I kinda wish I wore a turtleneck…" Ryota responded.

"Yea, the turtlenecks seem like a good call. We don't want any of us getting sick before we begin doing lives again in Janaury" Tomo added on, nodding.

"You two are so weird" Alex muttered, unsure if this was an act or if they actually had no idea about turtlenecks.

Taka and Toru looked at each other weirdly, trying not to burst into laughter.

"It was cold yesterday, we figured we would be prepared today" Taka tried not to laugh, realising how innocent and pure Tomo was.

"Yes, so let's all practice?" Toru added on, also trying to hold back laugter. So glad his friends were so innocent that they didn't catch on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haaaa Toru, not sure one of your friends is as innocent as you might think.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've rewritten the final chapter about 5 times now.... but I think it's finally the way I like it. 
> 
> So here we go, the penultimate chapter.

"So what are we doing for tonight?" Taka asked, cuddling on Toru's chest after morning sex.

"You mean you didn't make surprise plans for us?" Toru laughed, kissing Taka softly. 

"No, I kinda forgot to…" Taka admitted, "did you make surprise plans?"

"No…" Toru admitted, also realising he was gonna have to go to his dorm at some point. "We could go to the curry restaurant from our first date?" 

"It's Christmas, Toru" Taka sighed, "the restaurant is probably already booked up entirely"

"Right…" Toru began thinking again. "The park we went to before the curry restaurant?" 

"Yea, sure" Taka smiled, forgetting about how incredibly cold it was outside. "Can we have sex again first, though?" 

"Of course" Toru laughed, rolling over on top of Taka for more sex. 

* * *

"It's coooold" Taka laughed, sitting on a park bench with Toru. "Warm me up"

Toru put his arm around Taka and kissed his forehead. "I love you" 

"I love you too" Taka smiled, looking up at Toru. The park was entirely empty, probably because it was cold outside. He wasn't sure why he agreed to come here. Their winter coats were getting in the way of cuddling. 

"It is kinda cold…" Toru laughed, suddenly feeling the chill. "Wanna go to my dorm room? It's close by" 

"Should you text Ryota first?" Taka asked, looking at Toru. "I don't really wanna walk in on anything…" 

"Good point" Toru laughed, getting out his phone to text Ryota and waited for a response. "Coast is clear, he's out for dinner" 

So they got up and walked hand in hand to Toru's dorm. When they arrived, Toru knocked loudly first. When no one responded, they went in and found it was indeed empty. Taka laid on the bed, looking around the room. Toru was digging through his closet, and Taka wasn't sure what he was looking for. Then he grabbed a bag from a… toy store? Taka looked at him weirdly, wondering what was in the bag. 

"I uh. Got you a weird present" Toru laughed awkwardly, sitting beside Taka on the bed. 

Taka sat up, nervous. "I didn't get you anything…" 

"It's ok" Toru laughed, "it's really lame, but uh, I thought you might like this" 

"A gachapin and a koala?" Taka laughed, looking at Toru weirdly. "I understand the gachapin, but, why the koala?" 

Toru laughed, "when you were sick, you kept mumbling something about koalas and dinosaurs. At first I was really confused, then I noticed Alex kept referring to you as hanging off me like a koala. And I realised you were the koala and I was the dinosaur" 

"I think I vaguely remember having a nightmare abput that…" Taka laughed awkwardly, yet touched that Toru remembered something that dumb. 

"Oh. Right" Toru laughed also, "I forgot that part… I just remembered the koala and dinosaur. And anyway, I saw the koala at a shop in Osaka, and it reminded me of you. So I bought it, and uh. Oh. It has velcro on its arms, so..." 

Taka laughed, watching as Toru demonstrated it wrapping around his neck. "See? It hangs off me like you"  

"Cute" Taka laughed, "although I prefer when I hang off you like that" 

"Well obviously" Toru responded, "but I cuddle with the koala when you're not here… especially when we were fighting… and thought you might like the gachapin to cuddle with when I'm not there?" 

"I would" Taka laughed, wiping away tears from his eyes. "I slept holding your sweater when we were fighting" 

"You know you could have worn it?" Toru laughed, hugging Taka. 

"Yea. But. I like to cuddle something while I sleep" Taka responded, not sure why he was getting so emotional. Probably because never did he imagine Toru was such a giant softie. He gave Toru a big hug, "I love you Toru, so so much"

"I love you too" Toru laughed, wiping away tears from Taka's eyes. 

Taka wasn't sure why he was crying, but leaned in to kiss Toru. They kissed for what felt like forever, eventually laying down on his dorm bed, sucking the life out of each other. Taka was laying on his back, Toru on top of him. Nothing sexual, just very content with being near each other. 

Then the door opened. 

"What the fuck…" Ryota muttered out loud. Accidentally catching them in the act. Again. Except this time, they noticed. 

Taka was frozen, paralysed in fear. Ryota was going to hate him. He closed his eyes, hoping maaaaybe beyond all reasonable hope that Ryota wouldn't recognise him. Knowing it was a dumb as hell idea that would never work, but he had no better ideas. Then he heard Toru's signature line and felt his stomach churn. 

"I'm, uh, I'm not gay…" 

Ryota just stared at Toru, giving him a look of "what the actual fuck". 

"You seemed kinda gay when you had your tongue down my throat a few seconds ago…" Taka groaned, incredibly irritated that Toru actually said something so  _ dumb _ . then he noticed Ryota had a foreign girl with him and realised it must be Michelle. "We'll get out of your way…" 

Taka grabbed the gachapin stuffie off the bed, and walked with Toru out of the room. That was quite possibly the most mortifying moment of his life. "I thought you said he was out at dinner?" 

"He told me that…" Toru responded, still outside the dormroom. 

"And you didn't think to ask his after dinner plans?" Taka groaned, looking at Toru. 

"No?" Toru responded awkwardly, "I didn't really think we were gonna be that long… i figured we'd warm up, I'd give you your present, and head back?" 

"You can be am absolute goddamn idiot sometimes" Taka hissed, the door slamming open beside him. 

"You know we can hear you arguing, right?" Ryota asked, glaring at Toru and Taka arguing outside the door. 

"Sorry" Taka responded awkwardly, not sure what else to say. "We're just on our way…" 

"I'll deal with you tomorrow" Ryota sighed, glaring straight at them both then slamming the door shut. 

Toru sighed loudly, "I think he's mad" 

Taka glared at Toru, then began walking towards the staircase. "Obviously" 

* * *

"So what are we telling Ryota?" Taka asked as soon as they back at his apartment. He put the gachapin on his bed then laid down on the chest of the actual gachapin. Now incredibly terrified about telling Ryota. All the goodwill he had been building with Ryota, down the drain.

"The truth I guess" Toru sighed, holding Taka tightly. 

"He's gonna hate me" Taka groaned, burying his head in Toru's chest. "Can we tell him we just got together recently?" 

"Why's he gonna hate you?" Toru asked, stroking Taka's back. "I'm the one who's meant to be his best friend" 

"I've lied to him too much recently" Taka groaned. 

Toru sighed, holding Taka tightly. "You already told Tomo the truth though, right?" 

"Yea…" Taka admitted. 

"He doesn't hate you" Toru pointed  out. "And how would more lying make the situation any better?" 

Taka sighed, realising Toru was probably right. 

"We had a plan to tell him eventually. We may as well just stick to it…" Toru said. "I don't think we're actually very good at cover stories" 

"Fair enough" Taka groaned, looking up at Toru, who was smiling. "Why the fuck are you so happy about this situation?"

"Not happy about this situation" Toru admitted, "but I was thinking, I am  _ really _ happy you decided to join the band" 

"I suppose I am happy you  _ forced _ me to join your band" Taka laughed, dodging Toru's flying limbs. 

"You weren't forced" Toru laughed, trying to hit Taka or something. He's not really sure, but decided to roll Taka over and pin him on his back. 

"I was definitely forced" Taka laughed, trying to wrestle himself free from Toru's clutches. 

"Say you weren't forced" Toru laughed, holding Taka's wrists over his head to prevent him from escaping. 

"I'm being forced to say I wasn't forced" Taka laughed, "I think you have your answer"

"You like it though" Toru smirked, feeling Taka's hardon against his thigh. 

"I didn't realise you were so into kinky shit" Taka laughed, "maybe I should have gotten you handcuffs or something for Christmas" 

"You can still be me a pair as a late christmas present" Toru whispered in Taka's ear, still holding Taka down. 

Taka whimpered at the thought of himself in handcuffs with Toru hovered overtop of him, and attempted to reach up to kiss Toru. 

"Say you weren't forced to join the band" Toru laughed, looking at how desperate Taka was right now. 

"Fiiiine" Taka groaned, desperate for sex. "I wasn't forced to join the band, now fuck me already" 

"Someone's desperate and horny being restrained", Toru smirked, still holding onto Taka's wrists. 

"Someone also has a very large boner rubbing against me" Taka laughed, trying to rub it with his lower body. 

Toru groaned, feeling shocks of pleasure pulse through his body. He  _ temporarily _ let go of Taka's wrists, and removed both their shirts. Only for Taka to then try and wiggle free. "Ehhhh, I didn't say you could go free. I just needed use of both hands" 

Taka laughed, now trying to break free of Toru as a game. Only for Toru to roughly grab his hands again, holding him down again. "How are you going to take off my jeans if you're still holding me down?" 

Toru glared at Taka wiggling beneath him, "who said your jeans are being taken off?" 

"You're just going to lay here, both of us topless, holding me down, all night, and not even take off our pants?" Taka deadpanned, looking up at Toru  

"I have no idea what I'm doing" Toru admitted, laughing awkwardly as he still held Taka's wrists in place. 

"Let go of my wrists" Taka suggested. 

"This seems like a trap" Toru looked suspiciously at Taka. 

"It's not" Taka laughed, "I'll stay right here, you can get us naked, then hold my wrists down again and have your way with me" 

Toru looked suspiciously at Taka, and decided to try letting him go, knowing he could definitely outrun Taka if necessary. Which was necessary, as soon as he let go of Taka's wrists and shifted slightly to remove both their jeans, Taka immediately got off the bed to run around the room like a madman. Toru sighed heavily, walking to Taka's drawers, and found his school tie. 

"What are you doing?" Taka laughed nervously, noticing Toru was grabbing something from his dresser rather than chase after him. 

"Found it" Toru muttered, putting the tie in his back pocket and chasing after Taka. He let Taka win for a few minutes, pretending he couldn't outrun Taka, before catching him, picking him up, and placing him on the bed. He straddled Taka, getting hold of his wrists before grabbing the tie out of his back pocket. 

"What are you doing?" Taka asked nervously as Toru began tying his wrists to the bedpost. "Are you really about to tie me down?" 

"Yes" Toru answered, "you wanted me to handcuff you so I could, what was it? Have my way with you? And this is the best I could do on short notice" 

Taka glared, trying to free his hands - just for fun - super excited to actually be restrained by Toru. 

"Sorry, did you actually want to be held down or were you just saying that?" Toru laughed awkwardly, realising Taka was attempting to break free. 

"What's the fun of being tied down if I could break free if I wanted to?" Taka laughed, "now take my pants off and fuck me before I really try breaking free" 

"So demanding from such a short guy currently being tied up to his own bed" Toru muttered, removing both their pants and grabbing the lube and condoms. He rolled on the condom, adding lube to both his member and Taka's ass before plunging himself in and thrusting. 

"Fuuuuuck" Taka groaned loudly, feeling himself be stretched by Toru's dick, not by his fingers. Not even giving him a few seconds to adjust or anything. He wanted desperately to dig his fingers into Toru's back or something, but his hands were, of course tied over his head. Not being able to touch Toru probably more torturous than not being prepared properly. 

"You wanted… me to just… ah… fuck…. Already" Toru laughed between grunts and thrusts, spreading Taka's legs out wide to get himself deeper. Completely engulfed in the feeling of being inside Taka. Aiming himself to hit Taka there, and. 

"Fuuuuuck.. Toru…" Taka moaned loudly when he felt Toru's dick against his prostate, continuously hitting it with hard and fast thrusts. The pain from being stretched forgotten, replaced with waves of pleasure. 

Toru smashed their mouths together, swallowing all of Taka's moans, biting on his lower lip, feeling himself inching closer to release. Knowing Taka was very close when he would suddenly flinch, biting on his shoulder and moaning loudly. Toru roughly grabbed Taka's dick, gave it a few pumps, and felt the sticky liquid begin to spill out. He felt Taka's muscles tighten around his cock, continuing to trust a few more times before finishing. 

Taka felt Toru collapse on top of him, both still coming down from their high. Taka still attached to the bedpost. 

"That was good…" Toru smiled, kissing Taka's forehead and cleaning them both off before lying back down beside Taka. 

"Are you forgetting something?" Taka laughed, still tied up to the bed. 

"Nope, don't think so" Toru smirked, resting his head on Taka's shoulder. "You tend to fall asleep after sex anyway" 

"Remove me now or you're sleeping on the couch" Taka laughed, very tired and wanting to just cuddle with his boyfriend. 

"Fine" Toru sighed, undoing the knot and releasing Taka's wrists, immediately spooning him from behind. Just in case he tried escaping again.

"Can I sleep on your chest instead?" Taka asked, already very sleepy from the sex. 

"No" Toru yawned, "I don't want you to run away" 

"I'm not gonna run" Taka murmured, already half asleep. "I just like sleeping on your chest" 

"Fine" Toru sighed, turning onto his back and bringing Taka on top. "Happy?" 

"Yes" Taka smiled, kissing Toru before sleep took them both. 

 


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is Toru gay?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter!

Toru and Taka were cuddling on the couch the next morning, terrified of what kind of mood Ryota was going to be in. Toru kept trying to comfort Taka, but he was mumbling off a list of bad things that could happen, all while holding onto Toru's chest tightly.

"...He could leave the band, and he could cut off contact with you… and he could tell everyone you have a boyfriend… or Michelle could…. Or you could be kicked out of your dorm…. And he might tell your parents… what if you're forced to move back to Osaka?"

"Ok Taka, that's enough" Toru cut him off, "stop worrying so much. He's not going to do any of that. None of those things are going to happen"

"He looked really mad last night" Taka sighed, holding Toru closer, "he may have done one of those things in a fit of rage"

"He wouldn't do that" Toru said as he rubbed Taka's back underneath his shirt. "He may be mad that this is how he found out, but, not mad enough to do something dumb like that. We'll just tell him the truth, and then we'll tell Tomo, and everything will be ok"

"Even if he doesn't do one of those things, he's still gonna hate us" Taka groaned.

"Stop thinking of all the bad things that could happen" Toru continued trying to comfort Taka. "Just breathe. It's all going to be ok. Ryota's been my best friend my entire life. He wouldn't do that"

Taka sighed heavily, closing his eyes as he tried to calm himself down and focus on Toru holding him close, and stroking his back. Before hearing the sound of the door opening, and he immediately tensed up upon hearing Ryota's voice.

Toru felt awkward. Ryota was giving him a questioning look, sitting on the coffee tae in front of them, and Taka was incredibly tense, holding onto him for dear life. He patted Taka's back a few times, not sure what to do in this weird situation.

Taka sat up, sitting beside Toru, staring at the ground. Terrified of Ryota's reaction. He pulled his knees to his chest, resting his head on them and felt Toru's hand on his shoulder.

"So…" Ryota sighed, deciding to pretend to be oblivious. Figuring he had the upperhand and could determine them lying, "what's happening?" 

"I'm too scared" Taka got up, leaving his apartment, thinking _maybe_ a walk would help calm his nerves. Not ready to hear whatever Ryota had to say about the situation.

Toru sighed as he watched Taka leave his own apartment, and stared at the floor, unsure what to say.

"Is he ok?" Ryota asked nervously as soon as the door closed.

"He's anxious" Toru sighed, "he thinks you're gonna hate him for… yea…"

"What's going on between you two?" Ryota asked.

"Taka's my boyfriend" Toru answered, pulling his knees to his chest.

"Didn't you just dump your girlfriend in Osaka a week ago?" Ryota asked, giving an opportunity for him to lie, "seems a bit sudden, no?"

"There was no girlfriend in Osaka" Toru admitted, "I just didn't want to tell you about my relationship with Taka…"

"How long has this been going on for?" Ryota asked, again already knowing the answer.

"Since September" Toru answered.

"And why didn't you tell me?" Ryota groaned, "you told me you liked him, then suddenly claimed you were under duress and never meant it?"

"I was confused" Toru groaned, "I had always liked girls. But I felt something weird for Taka? I just wanted to spend time with him. He would pretend he hated me coming over, but then as soon as I arrived he'd make me food, we'd talk all night, laugh together. It was just really nice. Eventually I realised I did like him as more than just a friend"

"Then why didn't you tell me that?" Ryota groaned.

"You kept teasing me about the time I went on a date with him. Judging me. So much judging. I didn't want to actually admit I actually had feelings for him" Toru groaned loudly, slightly afraid of looking up at Ryota. "And you hated him so much. I didn't want you to hate him more if I told you when we started dating"

"I only hated him because I felt like you were replacing me with him" Ryota groaned.

"Then why take it out on him?" Toru groaned, "he wanted you to like him. He tried hard to make you like him. If your problem was with me, you should have taken it out on me, not on him"

"I don't know. That was my fault I guess" Ryota admitted, "but I got along with him in Osaka, why didn't you just tell me then?"

"I thought about it" Toru admitted, "I thought I might tell you when we got back to Tokyo. Then we got in a fight, I guess, on my birthday, and things kinda fell apart…"

"What did you fight about?" Ryota asked, looking at Toru, already knowing the answer.

"I don't wanna talk about it" Toru groaned, still staring at the floor.

"Thought we were having an honest conversation" Ryota sighed.

"Fine" Toru groaned, looking straight at Ryota for the first time this conversation, "Taka didn't like the sex. Found it incredibly painful, but didn't tell me because he thought he'd ruin my first time. Then afterwards he began crying and wouldn't stop crying. Even when we got back to Tokyo, all he did was cry in his bedroom. At the time, I didn't want to tell you the mess I was in, but, looking back I kinda do wish I had an actual friend to talk to at the time…"

"It must have been tough" Ryota admitted, "being in a fight with your boyfriend and having no one to talk to…"

"Alex and Takeru both know" Toru sighed, "they're alright at advice and stuff, but not really my favourite people to talk to…"

"I thought you and Takeru hated each other?" Ryota looked confused.

"We do" Toru sighed, "he's very open that he only gives me advice for Taka's sake. Alex apparently gives lots of advice to Taka, but I find him irritating as hell to deal with…"

"Should I be offended you told Alex and not me?" Ryota laughed nervously, trying to ease some of the tension. 

"Considering I only heard you have a girlfriend from him, I'm going to say no" Toru pointed out. "So out with it, you've asked enough questions, what's going on with Michelle?"

"Only slightly pissed he told you about Michelle, yet never told me anything about Taka" Ryota sighed. 

"He made way too many comments about it in front of you" Toru groaned. "He didn't even tell me it was Michelle, I only learnt that yesterday, when, uhh… yea…"

"Yea…" Ryota laughed awkwardly, "we've been friends for a while, by the time there was actually something to tell you about, you were upset about your… whatever in Osaka and I was kinda waiting for you to move on… except fucking Alex found out first"

"He always manages to find things out" Toru laughed awkwardly, "so is she your girlfriend?"

"Yea" Ryota nodded.

"I'm happy for you" Toru smiled.

"I'm happy for you too" Ryota admitted, "not entirely pleased you've lied for so long, nor exactly happy with the way I found out but, I suppose it doesn't matter overly much"

"Trust me, I didn't like you finding out that way either" Toru laughed awkwardly, hearing the door open.

"Can I come back in?" Taka asked awkwardly, "I forgot how cold it is outside…"

"Sounds like you" Toru laughed, encouraging Taka to sit beside him on the couch.

Taka sat down, immediately curling himself into a ball. Partly because he was terrified, partly because it was cold outside and he wanted to warm himself up.

"Everything's ok, Taka" Toru sighed, resting his hand on Taka's back.

"I'm really cold" Taka laughed awkwardly, "it's cold outside"

"It's _winter_ you idiot" Toru laughed, taking off his sweater and giving it to Taka.

Taka zipped up the sweater, then sat up normally, still staring at the ground, trying to avoid eye contact with Ryota.

"wanna talk on your own?" Toru suggested, "you two have a lot of misunderstandings"

"It's cold outside though" Taka informed Toru.

"I know" Toru laughed, kissing Taka's forehead.  "I'll wear my winter gear"

Taka tried to grab Toru's hand to prevent him from leaving, terrified to be left alone with Ryota, not knowing what's going on.

"Everything's ok" Toru sighed, letting go of Taka's hand. "You can do it"

Taka gave Toru a look of discontent as he got on his winter gear and left the apartment. Taka stared at the ground, trying to think of something to say. "Have you told anyone?"

"No?" Ryota answered, "why would I do that?"

"Has Michelle told anyone?" Taka asked, still staring at the ground.

"No" Ryota answered, "why would either of us do that?"

"Because you probably hate me" Taka admitted.

"I don't hate you" Ryota sighed.

"But I've lied to you" Taka responded, "saying nothing was happening between Toru and I, making up the Osaka girlfriend story, the missing my family thing, getting Alex to lie for us. Especially when Alex told us all you kissed someone on the school roof"

"I'm kinda pissed Toru never told me, and _very_ pissed Alex told everyone that story" Ryota admitted, "but, meh, it probably would have been kinda weird if I heard it from you rather than Toru…"

"Toru told Takeru" Taka laughed awkwardly, "and I heard that from Takeru just recently, not even from Toru. And just _that_ was weird…"

"Well now I'm _really_ mad that he told Takeru but not me" Ryota chuckled nervously. "Usually they storm out of the room when the other arrives, I assumed they just never talk"

"They put up with each other occasionally" Taka laughed awkwardly, "but I _think_ Toru mostly asks him for sex advice, and uh, not sure you're high on his list of 'people to ask sex advice from'"

"Probably because he thinks I'm a goddamn 5 year old" Ryota sighed.

"Probably because he wanted advice on gay sex" Taka laughed.

"Oh. Right" Ryota laughed nervously, "I really don't know much about that kind of sex"

"What about other kinds of sex?" Taka laughed at that wording, raising his eyebrows suggestively,  "you don't have to tell me, but y'know, bringing your girlfriend back to your place on Christmas…"

"I may know a thing or two about straight sex" Ryota admitted awkwardly, laughing, "probably not as much as certain two other members of the band, but, uhhh…"

Taka laughed, "can't imagine which two members that would be…"

"Tomo and Toru" Ryota quipped, causing Taka to burst out laughing.

"Yes, definitely those two" Taka agreed, laughing hysterically as the door opened.

"Hey Taka, heard a rumour you kicked Toru out" Alex laughed, walking into the main room with Toru. "Ditched him for Ryota and everything"

"Stop stirring up trouble" Taka responded as Toru sat down next to him. "Are you cold?"

"Not really" Toru responded, cuddling next to Taka as Alex sat on the coffee table. 

"Ahhh Ryota, heard you got quite the shock when you brought home Michelle last night…" Alex laughed as he put an arm around Ryota. "Got anything to report?"

"Get off me" Ryota groaned, removing himself from Alex's grip and putting on an act for Toru and Taka. "I have a lot of words for you"

"Yea?" Alex laughed, "like what?"

"Like you've kept them hidden for months and couldn't keep your mouth shut about Michelle for 5 minutes" Ryota sighed, glaring at Alex.

"It was more than 5 minutes" Alex sighed, "It was at least 48 hours later"

"You've kept them a secret since September" Ryota groaned.

"Either way" Alex laughed, "does everyone know everything? Am I allowed to openly make jokes about everyone?"

"Tomo knows nothing" Taka answered, making sure Alex was still on board with their plan.

"I'm texting him and urging him to cover over" Alex laughed, pulling out his phone to text Tomo, "too many jokes are going wasted and forgotten when I can't make jokes right away"

"Don't you already tell all your dumb jokes in front of everyone?" Toru groaned, glaring at Alex.

"I thought I was going to die during the turtleneck incident" Taka groaned loudly.

"There were soooo many good jokes and comments to make" Alex sighed, "there were the ones about you two, then the two oblivious idiots joined in with comments about weather, so many jokes to be made at Ryota's expense"

Ryota laughed awkwardly, trying to think of what he _may_ have thought, "I assumed one of them had a hookup and they dressed in solidarity to make it less weird. Then Tomo asked what was so funny and I made up the weather thing.."

"Ahhh… the final virgin of the group. Has he even kissed anyone yet?" Taka laughed awkwardly, suddenly realising everyone was staring at him. "Did I say something weird?"

"Ryota hasn't had sex" Toru laughed awkwardly, "he would definitely have told me that"

"I thought everyone had been sharing their relationship secrets?" Taka covered his head in embarrassment, "I assumed you told everyone"

"No one else asked" Ryota laughed awkwardly.

"I asked you like a day ago" Alex glared at Ryota. "And you said you hadn't done it"

"I hadn't done it when you asked me the other day" Ryota laughed, hearing the door open, and watching Toru and Taka immediately detach.

"Is everything ok?" Tomo asked nervously, walking into the apartment, "Alex said there's an emergency band meeting?"

"Yes, it's gotten even worse" Alex laughed, "does Tomo know anything, Ryota?"

"No…" Ryota admitted, laughing awkwardly as Tomo sat on the couch beside Taka.

"Ok, what's going on? I'm getting scared" Tomo asked nervously.

"Before we begin" Alex laughed, "did you do anything exciting last night, Tomo?"

"No?" Tomo answered, "I had dinner with my family. What did everyone else do?"

"Well…" Alex laughed, "all of us fucked someone last night, with the _notable_ exception of Taka-"

"I beg you to not" Taka groaned, getting a pillow ready.

"I fucked Natsumi, Ryota fucked Michelle, and Toru-" Alex laughed, dodging the pillow Taka threw at him, "Toru fucked Taka"

"I have a lot of questions" Tomo laughed awkwardly, "who, who, and umm…. What?"

"My friend, Ryota's girlfriend, they've been in a secret relationship for months" Alex laughed.

"I have even more questions" Tomo laughed, "is this the person from the rooftop story, and didn't we just have a breakup party for Toru?"

"Same person" Alex answered, "and they lie to you. All the damn time. Toru wasn't dumped, he got out of a fight with his boyfriend and decided he didn't want to keep up the girlfriend lie"

"How long has Ryota been in a secret relationship for?" Tomo asked, glaring at Ryota, "and what did they fight over?"

"Since end of November" Ryota admitted, "and they fought over sex"

Taka kicked Ryota, even though he knew Tomo already knew everything.

"Hey, you told everyone I had sex" Ryota laughed, kicking Taka back.

"Forgive me for assuming I was not the first person you told" Taka laughed.

"Taka was the first person you told?" Tomo asked in disbelief. "When did you even do it for the first time?"

"Last night" Ryota admitted.

"Ahhhh" Alex laughed, "when does your relationship crisis start"?

"The… what?" Ryota asked, looking at Alex nervously. 

"Well, y'know" Alex laughed, "I got dumped after doing it for the first time, those two got in a big fight, when does your crisis start?"

"Never?" Ryota tilted his head in confusion, "it was good. She stayed over, we cuddled all night, then we did it again this morning before she left"

"Glad at least one of us has a positive experience with their first time" Taka laughed awkwardly, cuddling tightly on Toru's shoulder.

"Wait, does this mean I have to listen to all of your sex stories?" Tomo groaned.

"Yes" Alex responded quickly.

"Please no…" Toru sighed, glaring at Alex.

"Fine. Fine. Tomo, what's your confession for today?" Alex asked. "We've all made confessions, what's yours?"

"I don't have any?" Tomo laughed awkwardly. "Ummmm…."

"Fine. New years resolutions" Alex laughed. "Do you have any?"

"To not be the last to find things out?" Tomo answered. "What are yours, Alex?"

"Stop telling us all sex stories" Ryota offered for him.

"So much judgement" Alex groaned. "I would like to have _more_ sex in 2006. What are yours, Ryota?"

"Not get dumped as many times as you" Ryota laughed.

"Ok. Who else wants to take a swing at me. Toru? Taka?" Alex sighed.

"Stop walking in on us" Toru offered. "That's your actual new years resolution"

"Yea, yea" alex groaned, "and yours is to stop yelling you're not gay everytime someone catches you doing something gay…"

"I don't do that" Toru groaned.

"Yes you do" Ryota laughed. "You were making out on your bed last night, with Taka, then began shouting you're not gay"

"But I don't regularly tell people I'm not gay…" Toru sighed.

"You do, though" Alex laughed. "Maybe yours should be to just admit you're gay"

Toru groaned, "I'm not g-"

"You're doing it again" Alex laughed.

"Fine" Toru sighed, "I _might_ be gay…"

"Might be?" Tomo laughed, "you just told us about your boyfriend"

"Fine. I'm gay. Is everyone happy?" Toru responded, suddenly engulfed in a hug from Taka.

"Yes. I love you" Taka squealed, holding on to Toru tightly.

"I love you too" Toru laughed, kissing Taka deeply.

"New years resolution: don't spend entire practices kissing" Alex laughed.

"Nahhh I have a better one" Toru offered, still holding onto Taka. "We should get a record deal in 2006"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this a lame ending? I suck at endings ahaha 
> 
> Anyway, no idea what I'm doing with my life after this (although I think I finally found a job after graduating recently). I want to write more Toruka fanfic, buuut I have no ideas for anything at the current moment.


End file.
